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University  of  California. 

GII^T  OF" 
THE   FAMILY  OF   REV.   DR.  GEORGE   MOOAR 


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DIVINE  SOVEREIGNTY 


AND  OTHER  SERMONS, 


BY 
REUEN  THOMAS, 

MINISTER  OF  HARVARD  CHURCH,   BROOKLINE, 

Author  of  ^^  Emmanuel  Church^''  etc. 


BOSTON: 
D.  LOTHROP  &  COMPANY, 

Franklin  and  Hawley  Sts. 

london:   james  clarke  &  co.,  fleet  st. 


COPYRIGHT.    1885,  BY 

D.  LOTHROP  &  COMPANY. 


PREFACE. 


I  have  been  many  times  asked,  by  friends  in 
England  and  America,  to  publish  a  volume  of 
Sermons,  but  have  hitherto  refrained  because  I 
was  not  conscious  of  anything  specially  new  in  my 
way  of  presenting  Biblical  truth  ;  and  because  my 
method  of  sermonizing,  being  a  mixture  of  the 
prepared  and  extemporaneous,  is  of  all  methods 
least  fitted  to  do  itself  credit  in  print. 

These  sermons  that  I  now  offer  to  my  friends 
and  the  public  have  not  been  re-written  for  publi- 
cation, but  are  given,  as  nearly  as  possible,  as 
spoken  from  the  pulpit.  The  first  six  were 
a  brief  course  to  inquirers ;  intended  to  be  sug- 
gestive and  expository,  not  at  all  controversial. 
The  other  sermons  are  ordinary  Sunday  morning 

discourses.  R.  T. 

ill 


CONTENTS. 


I. —  Divine  Sovereignty        ...  7 

II. —  Man's  Sinfulness  and  Inability      .  20 

III. —  Atonement  and  Expiation      .         .  35 

iy._The  Divine  Helper        ...  49 

v.— The  Witnessing  Church         .         .  62 

VI.— Retribution 74 

VII.— Means  and  Ends           ...  88 

VIII.— *«  Worship  God"  .         .         .102 

IX.— The  Child  and  His  Dues      .         .  118 

X.— A  More  Excellent  Way        .         .  136 

XI. —  The  Pre-eminence  of  Christ           .  148 

XII. —  Our  Eelationships           .         f         .  163 

XIII.— The  Limitations  of  Evil        .         .  179 

XIV.— For  His  Name's  Sake            .         .  194 

XV.— Searchings  of  Heart      .         .         .210 


vi  CONTENTS. 

XYI.— The  Divine  Kesponsibility  .     223 

XVII.— Predestination     .         .         .  .235 

XVIII.— Self-Improvement       .         .  .250 

XIX.— Weariness  in  Well-Doing  .  .     264 

XX.— The  Divine  Invisibility       .  .     279 


I. 

DIVINE  SOVEREIGNTY. 


And  Jesus  came  unto  them  and  spake  unto  them,  saying,  All 
authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go 
ye  therefore  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptising  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost : 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you; 
and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. — 
Matt.^  xxviii:   i8. 

THE  words  * '  Divine  Sovereignty  "  have  often- 
times been  so  used  as  to  create  a  prejudice 
against  them.  Man's  own  ideas  of  Sovereignty 
have  been  imported  into  them.  I  am  aware  that 
in  using  them  I  may  put  myself  at  a  disadvantage 
in  obtaining,  with  some,  ready  receptivity  for  the 
ideas  which  I  propose  to  ask  you  to  consider. 
Persuaded  as  I  am  that  many  of  these  ideas  have 
not  been  correctly  apprehended  or  adequately  ap- 
preciated,—  persuaded  also  that  there  is  in  them 
truth  so  important  that  if  we  let  it  slip,  we  shall 
suffer  in  increased  mental  imbecility  and  moral 
feebleness,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  my  duty  to  speak 
to  those  of  you  whose  minds  are   open  to   the 

7 


DIVINE  S0VEREIONT7. 


truth  which  Jesus  the  Christ  has  brought  within 
our  grasp,  on  these  essential  things  —  not  theo- 
logically or  dogmatically  but  exegetically  and 
ethically. 

The  Christian  Church,  through  its  Apostles, 
received  originally  a  commission  from  its  Founder. 

The  record  runs  thus  :  —  *'  The  eleven  disciples 
went  into  Galilee  unto  the  mountain  where  Jesus 
had  appointed  them.  And  Jesus  came  unto  them 
and  spake  unto  them,  saying.  All  authority  hath 
been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go 
ye  therefore  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations, 
baptising  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of 
the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you ; 
and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world." 

This  is  a  sweeping  statement.  It  speaks  of 
authority  —  of  authority  as  deposited  in  a  person. 
It  suggests  that  that  person  has  in  himself  the 
substance  of  the  Divine  nature  —  otherwise  the 
formula  to  be  used  in  baptism  is  unintelligible. 
His  apostles  were  to  go  forth  to  make  disciples  of 
all  the  nations.  They  were  to  administer  dis- 
ciples' baptism.  They  w^ere  to  put  the  name, 
which  implies  the  ownership  of  God,  on  those 
who  were  baptised.  They  were  to  declare,  thus, 
that  they  belonged  to  God.  They  were  to  declare 
that  the    nations  belonged  to  God.     In  a  word 


DIVINE  SOVEREIGNTY.  9 

they  were  to  announce  and  maintain  the  Divine 
Sovereignty  over  nations.  Tliat  Divine  Sover- 
eignty for  this  world  is  deposited  in  Jesus  the 
Christ. 

This  is  the  truth  that  underlies  all  else  in  the 
commission  given  to  the  disciples.  "  Therefore, 
because  all  authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in 
heaven  and  on  earth,  go  and  make  disciples  of 
all  the  nations. 

We  must  not  Iwiit  the  authority  and  think  of  it 
as  confined  to  the  church  or  to  Christians  alone, 
and  to  them  only  so  far  as  they  are  members  of 
organized  Christian  societies  —  and  only  to  their 
acts  as  members  of  such  societies.  There  is  no 
such  limitation  in  the  words  of  our  Lord.  *'A11" 
cannot  mean  less  than  *«  all.  "  The  moment  we 
begin  to  limit  revealed  truths  by  man's  opinions 
that  moment  we  begin  the  process  of  belittling 
everything  which  Jesus  has  spoken.  That  moment 
we  begin  the  exaltation  of  man  over  Christ  —  that 
moment  we  enter  on  a  course  the  exact  opposite 
of  the  one  suggested  by  John  the  Baptist :  ' '  He 
must  increase  but  I  must  decrease."  We  are  not 
"of  the  truth"  when  we  set  up  the  opinions  of 
men  as  of  more  worth  than  the  explicit  teachings 
of  Christ. 

Authority — all  authority — all  Sovereignty  over 
man  is  vested  in  Christ. 

We  can  see  reasons  why  it  should  be.     On  the 


10  DIVINE  SOVEREIGNTY. 

ground  ofhnowledge;  He  knows  more  of  the  nature 
of  Deity  —  more  of  the  nature  of  man  —  and  more 
of  the  nature  of  things  than  any  other  who  has 
ever  been  on  this  earth  knows. 

On  the  ground  of  goodness;  He  has  submitted 
himself  to  all  the  tests  to  which  the  nature  of  man 
can  be  subjected  and  has  triumphed  in  all.  Tried 
and  tempted  by  every  form  of  evil,  he  remains  the 
sinless  one  —  spotlessly  good. 

But  goodness  is  not  simply  abstinence  from 
acts  of  sin  or  feelings  that  are  sinful.  It  is  not 
merely  negative.  It  is  positive.  This  Jesus 
Christ  has  done  everything  possible  to  be  done  by 
any  human,  or  as  far  as  we  can  see,  by  any  divine 
being  for  the  sake  of  helping  others.  He  has 
loved  the  Eternal  Father  with  all  his  heart  and  his 
neighbor  as  himself. 

That  is  all  I  feel  called  upon  to  assert,  at  this 
present  stage,  on  the  nature  of  the  goodness  of 
Christ.  On  the  grounds  of  knowledge  and  good- 
ness, in  a  word  on  the  ground  of  the  superiority 
and  excellency  of  his  nature,  he  is  Sovereign. 
It  is  according  to  all  that  we  know  or  imagine  of 
the  Divine  Nature  that  Sovereignty  should  be 
deposited  in  him  who  is  greatest  and  best. 

In  the  superiority  and  excellency  of  the  nature 
of  Christ  we  may  see  a  practically  sufficient  rea- 
son why  the  Divine  Government  of  mankind 
should  be  administered  through  Jesus  Christ, 


DIVINE  SOYEREIQNTT.  11 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  the  ultmate 
ordering  of  the  Divine 'Tjrovernment  superiorities 
should  be  invested  with  authority. 

In  this  age  we  are  compelled  to  search  for  the 
ground  of  things.  We  must  dig  down  to  that 
which  is  fundamental.  There  is  too  much  law- 
lessness in  society  to  allow  of  serious  men  putting 
one  set  of  opinions  against  another  and  in  angry 
faction  fights  contending  that  one  set  of  opinions 
is  right  because  it  is  old,  and  another  set  wrong 
because  there  is  the  flush  of  youth  about  them. 
As  a  general  principle  we  may  assume  that 
whatever  has  stood  the  test  of  age  has  essential 
truth  in  it.  The  seemingly  new  must  expect  to  be 
regarded  with  suspicion  until  its  worth  has  been 
tested.  Whoever  accepts  an  opinion  simply 
because  it  is  new  and  for  no  other  reason  stamps 
himself  as  frivolous.  But  oftentimes  it  happens 
that  that  which  seems  to  be  new  is  the  oldest  of 
all.  A  new  machine  is  often  the  bringing  of  prin- 
ciples which  are  as  old  as  the  Universe  into  more 
effective  operation.  Nothing  really  new  is  intro- 
duced. The  old  is  brought  into  a  neater 
useableness.  When  the  lightning  shall  have  been 
domesticated  and  made  to  light  the  girl  who  has 
to  sew  into  the  weary  hours  of  night,  nothing  new 
will  have  been  brought  into  the  world.  It  will 
only  be  a  more  perfect  understanding  of  the  old. 
Everything  new  in  all  departments  when  proved 


12  DIVINE  SO  VEREIQNTT. 

practical  and  useful  is  simply  more  perfect  under- 
standing of  the  old.  Let  us  put  away  all  fear 
of  knowledge.  Ignorance  is  the  thing  to  be 
feared  —  ignorance  of  God  —  ignorance  of  our- 
selves—  ignorance  of  the  world  in  which  we  live. 
That  the  ignorant  people  of  the  country  should 
practically  rule  it  —  being  the  multitude,  and 
having  votes  to  cast  for  those  who  represent 
themselves,  this  is  the  danger.  And  it  is 
much  more  of  a  danger  than  any  of  us  see.  It 
was  ignorance  which  crucified  Jesus  the  Christ ; 
<*  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do." 

The  Church  of  Christ  must  beware  of  nar- 
rowing its  mission  to  the  world  within  any  limits 
more  contracted  than  those  assigned  to  it  in 
its  original  commission.  We  have  to  proclaim  the 
Sovereignty  of  God  in  an  age  when  so  many 
are  proclaiming  the  sovereignty  of  man  —  i.  e. 
the  sovereignty  of  the  multitude  —  let  that 
multitude  be  composed  of  whomsoever  it  may. 
It  is  true,  as  one  has  said,  that  the  idea  of 
modern  democracy  has  become  predominant  under 
the  influence  of  the  preaching  of  the  truths  which, 
in  their  best  expression,  are  in  the  New  Testament. 
"  Heathenism  had  no  such  notion  of  man  as  man  ; 
it  had  no  glimmer  of  the  preciousness  of  a  soul ;  it 
had  no  likeness  to  this,  introduced  and  difl'used  in 
the  western  world,  which  revealed  that  it  is  not 


DIVINE  SOYEBEIONTT.  13 

for  the  high,  nor  for  the  philosophical,  not  for  the 
wealthy,  not  for  emperors  or  nobles  or  patricians 
of  Rome,  but  that  it  is  for  man  as  man,  for  each 
soul  of  man  that  God  has  sent  His  Son  to  shed  his 
blood,  and  sent  his  Spirit  for  renewal  and  restora- 
tion to  himself  as  to  a  Father's  bosom."  But 
you  have  to  choose  between  the  Democracies  —  a 
Christianized  democracy  or  a  demonized  democra- 
cy. In  all  its  history  the  Church  of  Christ  has 
never  been  in  the  position  in  which  it  finds  itself 
to-day,  here,  on  this  continent.  And  I  am  afraid 
we  do  not  see  the  peculiarity  of  the  position  and 
therefore  the  duty  of  the  hour.  I  fear  that  we 
ourselves  are  only  half  awake  to  our  responsibilities 
in  regard  to  organized  society.  Have  we  any 
definite  idea  of  the  Kingship  of  Christ  in  reference 
to  society?  Has  not  this  very  idea  of  the  real 
Sovereignty  over  man,  as  man,  being  deposited  in 
Christ,  a  feeling  of  unreality  about  it  ?  Do  we  see 
that  if  it  be  a  truth  it  is  the  most  practical  of  all 
truths?  When  a  man  takes  «Iesus  as  Christ 
he  takes  him  as  his  Sovereign  —  not  simply  as  his 
Prophet,  his  Teacher  —  not  simply  as  his  Priest  — 
but  also  as  his  King.  He  has  to  take  him  for  all 
he  is,  or  he  can  never  rise  to  the  full  stature  of  a 
man  in  Christ  Jesus. 

The  questions  of  most  urgent  practical  impor- 
tance in  our  day  are  such  as  relate  not  to  freedom 
but  to  Government,  to  Sovereignty,  to  Authority, 


14  DIVINE  SOVEREIGNTY. 

to  Law  and  Order.     There  are  some  countries  in 
which  the  duty  of  the  hour  would  be  to  speak  of 
Freedom,  its  nature  and  its  necessity.     There  is 
no  such  duty  laid   upon   us   in  this   century  so 
far   as   this   country  is   concerned.     In   order  to 
have  right   ideas  of  freedom   we   must    first    of 
all  have  right  ideas  of  Sovereignty.     If  we  un- 
derstand the  prophetic  element  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament  Scriptures    rightly,  the    development  of 
the  spirit  of  lawlessness  is  to  be  one  of  the  signs 
of  the  latter  days  of  the  present  dispensation  of 
things.    I  am  fully  aware  that  the  effect  of  preach- 
ing the  fulness  of  the  Divine  nature  —  that   in 
which  the  gospel  consists — that  God  is  love  — 
will  be  in  some  minds,  to  produce  laxity.     And 
yet  for  the  sake  of  those  who  have  a  right  to  all 
that  is  revealed  of  the  Divine  Nature  we  must  not 
withold  any  truth.     What  we  need  to  see  is  that 
Love  works  through  law  and  not  independently  of 
it.     God  is  light  as  well  as  love.     The  word  light 
suggests  holiness.     It  suggests  purity.     It  sug- 
gests intelligence.     It  suggests  wisdom.     All  the 
beneficences  of  the  Universe  depend  upon  law. 
Destroy  law  and  w4iat  then?     Then   chaos   and 
destruction.    Love  is  seen  to  demand  for  its  sphere 
of  operation  law  and  order.     These  are  the  ideas 
we  need  to  have  impressed  upon  our  minds  in 
this  age. 

What  is  the  foundation  of  human  law?    Is  there 


DIVINE  SOVEREIGNTY.  15 

such  a  thing  as  authority  ?  What  is  it  ?  On  what 
does  it  rest  ?  In  what  is  it  rooted  ?  What  is  the 
ground  of  it  ?  We  must  ask  these  questions  and 
we  must  find  answers  to  them.  Without  debating 
the  matter  I  venture  the  affirmation  that  there  is 
no  answer  to  be  found  outside  religious  truth. 
An  irreligious  man  may  say,  *  It  is  necessary. 
It  is  expedient.'  But  why  ?  '  We  cannot  make  our 
fortunes  —  we  cannot  possess  our  comfortable  and 
luxurious  homes  —  we  cannot  sleep  well  at  nights 
— we  cannot  pursue  our  pleasures  quietly,  with- 
out law  and  order.'  But  supposing  the  great 
multitude  should  be  instructed  enough  in  our 
public  schools,  just  enough,  to  lose  all  that  natural 
fear  of  superiorities  which  belongs  to  superstition 
and  ignorance ;  supposing  they  should  listen  to 
the  men  who  represent  lawlessness  —  the  men 
who  have  nothing  to  lose  even  if  society  becomes 
a  chaos  —  what  would  they  care  about  these 
material  things  on  which  we  place  so  much  value  ? 
Considerations  of  necessity  and  expediency  would 
go  for  nothing.  If  there  be  no  Divine  Sovereignty 
—  in  itself  righteous  —  with  the  right  to  rule, 
with  the  right  of  authority,  then  all  these  lower 
sovereignities  are  usurpations.  Everything  that 
man  has  is  derived.  From  what  source  is  the 
authority  which  is  invested,  for  instance,  in  the 
President  of  the  United  ^States;  in  the  Gov- 
ernor of  this  state  ;    in  the  Judges  of  the  supreme 


16  DIVINE  80VEBEIGNTT, 

court ;  in  Judges  everywhere  —  derived  ?  Has  it 
any  right  to  be?  The  Christian  man,  if  he  is  as 
intelligent  as  Christianity  is  capable  of  making 
him,  has  his  answer  ready.  And  it  is  all-suflBcient. 
It  is  this  — *  There  is  a  Divine  Order  in  this 
Universe.  The  Creator  must  be  the  Sovereign 
by  right  and  in  fact.  We  have  nothing  which  is 
not  derived.  Not  a  faculty,  not  a  power  but  is 
derived.  We  are  not  independent.  All  round 
and  all  through  we  are  dependent.  We  are  born 
into  an  established  order  of  things ;  an  element 
in  it;  a  part  of  it.  We  do  not  stand  alone  — 
cannot  stand  alone.  We  are  related  all  round.' 
There  are  no  facts  less  open  to  question  than  these 
—  that  we  are  related  to  certain  institutions  —  the 
family  and  the  nation  —  yea,  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  for  it  existed  as  revealed  in  the  family 
and  nation  into  which  we  were  born.  We  are 
thus  related  to  organisms  which  God  has  made. 
We  are  thus  related  to  Him.  We  are  under  the 
Divine  Sovereignty.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  it. 
Our  accepting  it  or  rejecting  it  does  not  alter  the 
fact.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a  system  of  laws 
which  God  has  established.  We  cannot  get  from 
under  them.  They  are  in  us.  We  are  organized 
in  accord  with  them.  Thus  the  Sovereignty  of 
God  comes  into  our  very  nature  and  makes  it 
what  it  is.  These  dependencies  and  these  rela- 
tionships put  upon  us  duties  and  responsibilities. 


THE  DIVINE  SO  YEUEIGNTY.  17 

Herein  comes  our  freedom — we  may  intelligently 
and  voluntarily  work  with  God  (to  the  measure 
to  which  He  has  revealed  Himself)  in  the  family, 
in  the  church,  in  the  nation,  or  we  may  igno- 
rantly  and  wilfully  (all  we  can)  work  against  Him. 
In  the  one  case  we  are  subjects,  in  the  other 
rebels.  In  the  one  case  we  rise  into  the  condi- 
tion and  feeling  and  apprehension  of  children  in 
a  household,  and  are  as  free  and  happy  as  chil- 
dren at  home  ;  in  the  other  case  rebellion  grad- 
ually but  surely  hardens  down  into  that  wilfulness 
which  becomes,  in  the  process  of  time,  total 
alienation  moving  steadily  toward  demonism.  The 
facts  of  life  compel  us  to  see  that  irreligion 
never  stops  at  mere  inhumanity.  Its  final  form  is 
demonism. 

Now,  the  irreligious  man  has  no  answer  to  the 
question — on  what  rests  the  authority  which  is 
vested  in  the  parent  in  regard  to  his  child  ;  in  the 
Governor  in  regard  to  the  State  ;  in  the  Judge  as 
regards  the  administration  of  law  ?  When  I  say 
that  he  has  no  answer,  I  mean  that  he  has  no  answer 
which  is  not  like  a  house  built  on  the  sand. 

If  an  eternal  foundation  for  a  temporal  institu- 
tion cannot  be  found  it  cannot  stand ;  it  must  go. 
All  permanent  necessary  institutions  have  their 
ultimate  authority  in  the  right  of  the  Creator 
to  govern — in  a  word,  in  Divine  Sovereignty. 
Democracy  may  be  so  regarded  as  to  become  the 


18  DIVINE  SOVEREIGNTY. 

hugest  idolatry  which  has  ever  been  set  up  in  the 
world  —  the  idolatry  of  the  will  of  man.  The 
Christian  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  it  under 
that  aspect.  God's  ultimate  purpose  in  reference 
to  nations  is  declared  to  us  in  that  nation  of  Israel. 
That  ultimate  purpose  is  not  democracy  but 
theocracy  —  not  the  rule  of  the  many  over  the  few, 
but  the  rule  of  God  over  all.  And  if  the  Church 
of  Christ  fails  of  seeing  this,  and  of  teaching  it, 
and  of  illustrating  it  in  its  own  life  —  it  so  far  fails 
of  comprehending  the  greatness  of  the  commission 
entrusted  to  it,  and  the  basis  truth  on  which  that 
commission  rests.  All  rightful  authority  over 
man  is  deposited  in  Jesus  the  Christ.  He  is  the 
sole  Sovereign.  To  submit  to  his  Sovereignty  is  to 
be  in  right  relations  with  God,  and  so,  essentially, 
to  be  free  from  guilt.  To  refuse  to  acknowledge 
that  Sovereignty  is  to  be  out  of  rightful  relations 
towards  God,  and  so,  to  be  now  and  as  long  as  the 
refusal  continues,  guilty  in  God's  sight.  And 
while  the  Creator  has  revealed  himself  as  '*  long- 
suffering,  plenteous  in  goodness  and  truth  —  not 
willing  that  any  should  perish  but  that  all  should 
come  to  repentance, "  yet  has  he  also  said  that 
"  he  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty. ''  Let  us 
try  to  appreciate  something  of  the  magnitude  of 
this  most  practical  and  most  necessary  revelation  — 
*' All  authority  hath  been  given  to  me  in  heaven 
and  on  earth,  go  ye  therefore  and  make  disciples 


DIVINE  SOVEREIGNTY.  19 

of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  : 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I 
commanded  you ;  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 


11. 

MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY. 


All  have  sinned  and  fall  short  of  the  glory  of  God. — Romans, 
iii:  23.  ^ 

IN  speaking  on  the  theme  of  Man's  Sinfulness  and 
consequent  Inability  I  am  not  under  the  neces- 
sit}^  of  occupying  your  time  in  any  elaborate  at- 
tempt at  proving  either  the  one  or  the  other.  It  is 
universally  admitted  that  there  is  something  defec- 
tive, inharmonious  and  wrong  in  man's  nature.  The 
best  and  the  worst  of  men  admit  this  much.  Any 
man  w^ho  argued  to  the  contrary  would  be  regarded 
as  lacking  in  intelligence  as  well  as  in  moral  sense, 
as  odd  and  singular,  as  a  man  whose  views  and 
opinions  of  things  were  so  peculiar  as  to  cause  him 
to  be  regarded  with  something  of  suspicion.  In 
every  one  of  us  there  is  a  something  good  which 
perceives  a  something  bad  and  wrong.  There  is 
also  something  in  every  man  which  whispers  of 
an  ideal  state.  There  is  in  all  a  kind  of  reminis- 
cence of  a  lost  condition.  This  reminiscence  has 
never,   I  think,  been  more   exquisitely  phrased, 

20 


MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY.         21 

than  in  the  poet's  Wordsworth's  < '  Intimations  of 
Immortality  from  Recollections  of  Early  Child- 
hood." The  poet  can  account  for  the  inAvard  con- 
dition which  he  finds  in  himself  and  in  other  men 
only  by  the  suggestion  that  we  have  had  a  prior 
existence,  traces  of  which  still  remain  with  us  : 

*'  Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting; 

The  soul  that  rises  with  us,  our  life's  star. 
Hath  had  elsewhere  its  setting, 

And  Cometh  from  afar; 
Not  in  entire  forgetfulness, 
And  not  in  utter  nakedness, 
But  trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 
From  God,  who  is  our  home." 

In  order  to  account  for  what  we  find  in  our- 
selves we  need  not  accept  the  extreme  explanation 
of  the  poet.  It  suffices  if  we  think  of  our  nature 
as  having  had,  originally  controlling  it,  a  supreme 
lovje  which  has  been  largely  but  by  no  means 
entirely  lost,  which  is  now  only  a  reminiscence. 
The  idea  of  the  lost  condition  hides  itself  in  the 
soul  but  can  never  ''except  in  the  worst  of  the 
worst "  be  entirely  killed  out.  That  in  us  which 
accuses  us  when  we  do  wrong  and  commends  us 
when  we  do  right  cannot  be  fallen  and  sinful. 
That  must  be  righteous  and  holy.  And  so  there 
is  in  us  all  a  viceroy  asserting  Kingship  in  the 
name  of  the  true  Sovereign  of  our  souls.  Job 
recognized  it.  David  recognized  it.  Call  it  Con- 
science, call  it  what  you  will,  it  is  there  as  a  fact. 


23         MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY. 

And  I  am  dealing,  in  the  simplest  possible  way, 
with  facts  of  consciousness. 

But  there  is  in  us  not  only  this  sense  of  righteous- 
ness—  of  a  lost  ideal  state  but  much  else.  In  every 
man  there  is  a  sense  of  incongruity  — of  dividedness 
of  nature  —  of  disharmony.  We  are  not  at 
one  with  ourselves.  The  Apostle  Paul  puts 
the  case  thus — **The  flesh  lusteth  against  the 
spirit  and  the  spirit  against  the  flesh,  and  these  are 
contrary  the  one  to  the  other."  There  is  a 
depravity,  a  degeneration  in  our  nature.  And  as 
the  several  parts  of  our  nature  are  so  intimately 
associated  that  if  one  part  sufiers  all  the  other 
parts  sufier  with  it,  so  the  depraved  condition  is 
not  moral  alone  or  intellectual  alone,  or  physical 
alone.  All  departments  are  weakened  from  their 
original  strength,  and  corrupted  from  their  original 
purity.  The  intellect,  the  aff*ection,  the  will,  are 
not  in  that  condition  which  is  seen  to  be  possible. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  we  look  upon  one  another  as 
beings  not  entirely  trustworthy.  Every  man  puts 
every  other  man  upon  trial,  and  does  not  entirely 
trust  him  until  he  has  had  considerable  experience 
of  him.  If  man  be  not  a  depraved  creature,  why 
this  universal  suspicion?  Surely  no  one  would 
choose  to  live  in  a  perpetual  state  of  distrust,  for  it 
is  an  exceedingly  uncomfortable  state.  And  yet, 
the  men  and  women  who  are  naturally  at  the 
farthest  remove  from  this  suspiciousness  of  dis- 


MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY.         23 

position,  are  compelled  by  the  experience  they  have 
of  life  to  exercise  no  little  of  caution.  Without 
parading  the  acknowledged  vices  of  society  before 
your  gaze,  there  is  enough  of  evidence  among  the 
most  decent  and  well-behaved  people  of  the  world 
to  testify  that  we  have  in  us  the  conviction  that  all 
men  everywhere  are  in  a  depraved  condition. 
And  yet  they  are  not  so  depraved  as  not  to  know 
that  they  are  depraved. 

It  is  often  argued  that  we  are  here  in  a  state  of 
probation.  But  man  as  man  has  had  his  probation 
and  has  fallen.  It  would  seem  that  innocence 
apart  from  experience  cannot  stand.  The  repre- 
sentation of  the  case  in  the  Book  of  Genesis  is  that 
Adam's  *'tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil" 
tested  his  obedience.  Our  Tree  of  Life  —  Jesus 
Christ  —  tests  our  obedience.  Only  with  a  differ- 
ence. The  first  man  of  whom  we  read,  knowing 
only  good,  w^anted  to  know  what  evil  was.  We, 
having  in  ourselves  the  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil,  are  put  upon  trial,  whether  we  will  adhere 
persistently  to  that  which  is  good  —  not  simply 
good  in  the  abstract — good  only  as  an  idea  — 
but  good  in  the  concrete  —  good  personalized  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Nothing  appeals  to  our  whole  nature 
until  it  becomes  personalized. 

Taking  these  simple  facts,  which  are  undeniable, 
—  what  does  this  condition  mean  ?  Is  there  any  ex- 
planation of  it  ?     There  is  suggested  the  explana- 


24         MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY. 

tion  of  mcompleteness.  Our  nature,  say  some,  is 
moving  on  gradually  towards  unity,  harmony,  per- 
fection. Give  it  time  and  it  will  come  out  accordins: 
to  the  highest  idea  that  the  best  and  most  intelli- 
gent man  has  of  it.  Theoretically  this  looks  plausi- 
ble. And  if  we  could  ,shut  ourselves  away  from 
ourselves,  and  from  all  the  facts  of  society,  the 
idea  of  simple  imperfection  might  seem  large 
enough  to  cover  the  case.  The  apple  is  green 
and  tart,  but  leave  it  alone  for  a  month  or  two,  and 
it  will  be  pleasant  to  the  eye  for  its  color,  and 
sweet  to  the  taste.  Unhappil}^  except  under 
certain  conditions,  and  in  a  certain  environment, 
man  as  he  grows  older  does  not  grow  better.  The 
generosity,  the  trustingness,  beauty  and  sweetness 
of  youth,  seem  to  fade  awa}^  and  nothing  quite  so 
good  comes  in  the  place  of  them.  In  most  cases 
the  whole  of  this  life  of  ours  seems  to  be  occupied 
with  the  scattering  of  illusions  ;  with  the  proving 
that  our  views  are  short-sighted  ;  that  our  opinions 
are  false ;  that  our  pleasures  cannot  last ;  that 
the  things  which  seem  to  be  blessings  are  very 
often  curses  in  disguise,  so  far  as  their  relation 
to  individuals  is  concerned,  and  worst  illusion  of 
all,  that  which  relates  to  our  own  view  of  our  own 
nature.  There  is  something  else  than  incomplete- 
ness. This  idea  does  not  account  for  our  sense  of 
guilt  —  a  sense  belonging  to  every  man  —  the 
most   pitiable   form  of  misery,  and  yet,  strange 


MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILTT.  25 

to  say,  the  deepest  possible  sense  of  guilt  is  not 
half  so  appalling  as  would  be  no  sense  of  it  at  all. 
Whether  the  restlessness  and  the  superabundant 
activity  of  the  world  are  not  more  due  to  the 
inward  sense  of  guilt  in  man,  from  which,  in  one 
way  or  another  he  is  striving  to  free  himself,  than 
to  anything  higher,  is  a  question  worth  w^hile  our 
considering.  "  The  wicked  is  like  the  troubled 
sea  which  cannot  rest,  whose  waters  cast  up  mire 
and  dirt.  There  is  no  peace,  saitli  my  God,  to 
the  wicked."  The  idea  of  incompleteness  as 
accounting  for  what  we  find  in  ourselves  is  not 
large  enough.  It  leaves  out  too  much.  There  are 
too  many  facts  which  lie  outside  of  it. 

It  covers  a  part  of  the  ground  but  only  a  part. 
It  needs  along  with  it  the  idea  of  depravation  — 
an  idea  which  satisfies  the  Conscience  as  well  as 
the  Intellio^ence.  The  sense  of  not  being:  right  — 
of  being  wrong  —  of  being  at  war  with  something 
-^  with  SOMEONE,  is  in  us  all.  This  is  what  we 
call  the  sense  of  sin.  This  sense  is  not  consistent 
with  inward  happiness.  It  is  an  internal  trouble 
which  men  would  get  away  from  if  they  could. 
But  no  man  can  get  away  from  himself.  He  may 
change  his  place  of  abode  —  his  associations  —  his 
surroundings,  and  for  the  time  be  so  occupied  with 
the  newness  that  presents  itself,  as  to  get  a  partial 
and  temporary  relief.  But  the  old  internal  state 
is  there,  and  soon  re-asserts  itself  in  all  its  power. 


26  MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY. 

No  external  condition  can  eradicate  it.  Men  try 
all  sorts  of  devices  to  rid  themselves  of  this  inter- 
nal sense  of  something  wrong.  Sometimes  they 
change  their  opinions,  putting  off  one  set,  and 
adopting  another.  But  the  taking  up  with  that 
which  is  more  lax,  or  that  which  is  more  thorousrh, 
does  not  alter  the  inward  condition.  The  bad 
consciousness  is  there  all  the  time.  It  is  deeper 
in  the  nature  than  the  region  to  which  opinion  be- 
longs. It  is  not  wrong  opinion  simply  but  some- 
thing more  inward  which  troubles  us.  There  is 
on  other  word  but  sinfulness  which  will  express  the 
nature  of  the  trouble.  We  have  from  the  past 
inherited  a  depravity  —  a  degeneration  of  nature. 
And  it  has  corrupted  the  intellect  —  the  affections 

—  the  will.     We  think  wrongly  —  we  feel  wrongly 

—  we  act  wrongly.  And  we  are  all  in  the  same 
state.  No  man  can  set  himself  up  as  of  a  differ- 
ent order  of  being  from  the  rest.  *' God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner  " —  is  a  prayer  suited  to 
everyone. 

While  I  am  carefully  abstaining  from  the  use  of 
scientific  theological  expressions,  and  interpreting 
the  simple  facts  of  consciousness,  yet  I  can  find  no 
word  that  will  stand  in  the  place  of  this  word 
*  sinfulness.'  For  it  is  quite  certain  that  there  are 
in  man  not  only  defects  which  mean  weakness,  but 
that  there  is  also  a  parent  defect  which  means 
guilt.     There  is  no  man  living  who  has  not  this 


MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY.         27 

sense  of  inward  guiltiness.  And  those  who,  to  us, 
seem  the  best  and  the  truest  are  the  readiest  to  ac- 
knowledge that  it  belongs  to  themselves  equally 
with  others.  So  generally  is  this  the  case,  that 
the  claim  of  perfectionism,  on  the  part  of  any,  is 
met  with  a  general  incredulity  not  unmixed  with 
scorn.  The  man  is  suspected  all  the  more  because 
of  his  claim.  It  seems  to  be  indecent  as  well  as 
impossible.  Apart  then  from  the  gross  vices  of 
the  disreputable  among  men  and  women,  we  per- 
ceive that  there  is,  in  this  nature  of  ours,  a  degen- 
eration which  is  not  simply  a  defect,  not  simply 
an  entrenched  ignorance,  but  a  condition  so  radical 
that  all  efforts  of  self  upon  self  are  insufficient  for 
the  freeing  of  our  nature  from  it. 

And  this  degeneration  is  total  —  by  which  I 
mean,  it  affects  the  whole  nature.  No  part  is 
untainted.  It  is  not  possible  that  any  part  should 
be.  Our  nature  is  so  connected,  part  with  part, 
that  degeneration  in  one  region  means  degenera- 
tion in  every  region.  If  a  man  be  unjust  in  his 
feelings  he  will  be  unjust  in  his  thinking  and  un- 
just in  his  action.  It  is  the  merest  rubbish  to 
talk  of  a  man  being  good  at  heart  and  bad  every- 
where else.  If  the  fruit  of  the  tree  be  bad  the 
tree  is  bad.  And  sinfulness  means  corrupted 
feeling,  corrupted  thinking,  corrupted  willing, 
corrupted  action.  The  unity  of  our  nature  neces- 
sitates this.     Great  thinkers  in  all  times,  and  in 


28         MAN' 8  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY. 

all  countries,  have  perceived  that  if  that  centre  we 
call  the  heart  be  depraved  all  other  parts  of  our  na- 
ture are  lowered  thereby.  In  his  Ethics  the  old 
Pagan  philosopher  Aristotle  writes  "  For  depravity 
perverts  the  vision  and  causes  it  to  be  deceived 
on  the  principles  of  action,  so  that  it  is  clearly 
impossible  for  a  person  who  is  not  good  to  be  wise 
or  prudent."  *'  The  pure  heart  makes  a  clear 
head"  says  another  of  the  ancient  celebrities.  So 
Carlyle  in  modern  times,  to  quote  only  one  of 
many,  writing  of  Mirabeau  asserts,  ''The  real 
quality  of  our  insight,  how  justly  and  thoroughly 
we  shall  comprehend  the  nature  of  a  thing,  es- 
pecially of  a  human  thing,  depends  on  our  patience, 
our  fairness,  lovingness,  what  strength  soever  we 
have  ;  intellect  comes  from  the  whole  man,  as  it  is 
the  light  that  enlightens  the  whole  man." 

Let  us  bear  in  mind  this,  then,  that  whatever 
affects  the  centre  of  our  nature  affects  also  every 
part  of  it  to  the  outermost  extremities.  If  there  be 
impure  blood  in  the  heart  there  will  be  impure 
blood  in  every  vein  of  every  part  of  the  whole 
body.  And  so,  if  there  be  depravity  in  the  affec- 
tional  region  of  our  nature  there  will  be  depravity 
in  the  will  region,  in  the  region  of  the  intellect,  in 
the  action.  Nothing  will  be  what  it  would  be 
if  that  depravity  were  not  there.  I  want  that  our 
young  people  especially  should  recognize  that  a 
degenerated  heart  means  a  degenerated  intellect. 


MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY.         29 

This  degeneration  means  not  only  bad  disposition, 
it  means  biassed  and  depraved  intellectual  quality, 
inability  everywhere.  And  this  must  of  necessity 
be  so,  because  of  the  unity  of  our  nature.  So  that 
on  the  highest  themes,  the  thinking  of  a  man  out 
of  right  relations  to  God  is  not  trustworthy,  can- 
not be,  nor  on  any  themes  which  involve  char- 
acter. To  say  that  there  is  no  difference  in  the 
moral  quality  of  opinions,  and  that  one  set  of 
opinions  is  as  good  as  another,  is  surely  to  speak 
so  as  to  draw  away  from  us  the  intellectual  respect 
of  all  thinking  men.  There  is  more  depravity  in 
one  set  of  opinions  than  in  another.  There  are 
some  views  of  man's  nature  and  of  life  which  make 
it  much  easier  for  a  man  to  sin  than  other  views. 
Now  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  any  mercy,  or  any 
kindness,  in  any  teaching  which  leads  men  to  as- 
sume that  sinfulness  is  only  an  eruption  on  the 
skin  and  not  a  disease  of  the  heart.  Only  ''  fools 
make  a  mock  at  sin."  There  are  countless  instan- 
ces of  men  so  coarse  and  vulirar  in  feelincf,  so  far 
away  from  all  true  refinement  of  mind,  that,  seem- 
ingly, they  have  no  perception  of  sinfulness  as  a 
spiritual  malady.  Until  it  externalizes  itself  in 
vice,  until  it  shows  itself  in  acts  of  degradation 
and  shamefulness,  they  do  not  recognize  it  as  of 
any  consequence.  They  take  no  note  of  tlie  dis- 
position to  folly  and  stupidity  which  belongs  to 
the  depraved  condition ;    no  note  of  the  terrible 


80         MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY. 

moral  torpidity  which  belongs  to  it.  Sinfuluess 
when  it  becomes  vice,  disease  in  the  body,  de- 
struction of  tissue,  spoliation  of  form,  making 
loathesome  that  which  God  made  beautiful  —  that  is 
the  only  aspect  in  which  sin  stirs  their  natures 
into  any  feeling  of  antipathy.  And  even  over 
that  they  can  jest. 

I  venture  the  assertion  that  anyone  who  has 
mind  and  heart  orreat  enouirh  to  look  under  the 
surface  of  things,  and  not  simply  at  the  outside 
of  things,  must  perceive  that  there  is  sin  and 
sin.  Do  we  not  make  a  distinction  in  our  own 
feeling  between  sin  which  indicates  infirmity  and 
sin  which  indicates  a  self-assertive  determina- 
tion to  do  and  be  something  which  involves  pride, 
envy,  malignity  and  the  utmost  of  want  of 
consideration  for  others?  The  New  Testament 
speaks  of  "  sins  of  the  flesh"  and  *'  sins  of  the 
spirit.  "  The  devil  sins,  we  must  remember, 
were  not  committed  in  the  flesh,  and  yet  they  are 
of  all  sins  the  most  heinous. 

Now  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  view  we 
take  of  this  flict  of  sinfulness,  universally  admitted 
in  some  form,  will  influence  our  estimate  of  every 
other  vital  truth.  If  sinfulness  be  only  ignorance 
we  need  only  a  Teacher.  If  sinfulness  be  only 
the  inward  condition  which  has  gradually  been 
w^rought  in  us  from  our  misconception  of  things, 
we  need  only  an  Instructor.    If  sinfulness  be  only 


MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILTY.  31 

disease  we  need  only  a  Physician.  If  sinfulness 
be  only  error  we  need  only  an  Example.  But  if 
it  be  something  more  than  ignorance,  something 
more  than  disease,  something  more  than  error,  we 
need  in  Him  who  is  to  deliver  us  from  it  a  power 
other  than  that  possessed  by  the  Teacher,  the 
Physician,  the  Exemplar,  as  I  believe  that  the 
New  Testament  distinctly  teaches.  If  I  were  to 
occupy  myself  in  trying  to  make  you  believe  that 
the  sinfulness  in  this  nature  of  ours  can  be  swept 
out  by  any  amount  of  education  of  the  intellect, 
by  any  degree  of  culture,  however  thorough,  which 
stops  short  of  the  culture  of  the  heart,  I  should  be 
false  to  the  deepest  convictions  of  my  nature. 
And  whatever  comes  of  it  I  must  be  true  to  these  ; 
and  especially  so  when  I  think  that  others  may  be 
misled  by  my  underestimating  of  how  much  is 
involved  in  this  word  *  sinfulness.'  Sinfulness 
means  ignorance,  yes ;  it  means  error,  yes ; 
it  means  disease,  yes ;  but  it  means  a  great  deal 
more.  In  many  and  many  a  case  it  means  that 
state  of  heart  in  which  the  idea  of  God  is  more 
hateful  than  the  idea  of  the  Devil.  I  look  upon 
those  who  ^re  vicious,  the  fallen  man,  the  fallen 
woman,  the  drunkard,  the  libertine,  the  debau 
chee,  and  it  is  sad  enough,  God  knows.  But  I 
have  known  fallen  men  and  fallen  women  and 
drunkards  who  have  never  from  their  youth  up 
ceased  from  praying  '  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 


32         MAIV'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY. 

sinner.*     I   do    not   want   to   forget  the  lines   of 
the  hymnist  : 

**  Think  gently  of  the  erring  one  I 

And  ]et  us  not  forget 
However  darkly  stained  by  sin. 

He  is  our  brother  yet. 


Heir  of  the  same  inheritance, 

Child  of  the  self-same  God ; 
He  hath  but  stumbled  in  the  path, 

We  have  in  weakness  trod." 

I  want  to  live  in  that  spirit  and  temper  of  mind 
as  long  as  life  shall  last.  I  dare  not  trust  my  own 
short-sighted  views  of  sin.  On  all  these  questions 
I  want  to  be  a  learner  from  Him  who  is  of  all 
Teachers  on  vital  matters  incomparably  the  great- 
est. I  cannot  forget  his  words  spoken  to  men 
whose  place  in  the  society  of  his  day  was  not  the 
lowest  — ' '  The  publicans  and  harlots  enter  the 
Kingdom  of  God  before  you."  There  are  sins  of 
the  flesh  which  pollute,  which  destroy  reputation, 
which  bring  wretchedness  and  misery,  social  de- 
gradation and  much  else.  There  are  sins  of  the 
spirit  which  bring  none  of  these,  and  yet,  if  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  be  a  true  prophet,  which  put  men  and 
women  at  even  a  farther  distance  from  God. 
The  teaching  is  not  mine,  it  is  His.  Of  what 
condition  of  heart  is  he  who  is  amiable  and 
placid  until  someone  speaks  to  him  such  a  truth 


MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY.  33 

as  is  contained  in  these  words  '  God  is  Love. 
God  is  Light.  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  His  oilly  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  ever- 
lasting life."  Then,  his  whole  soul  is  filled  with 
aversion  to  the  speaker,  with  wrath,  with  disdain. 
To  err  is  human.  But  to  gnash  with  the  teeth 
when  the  claims  of  Deity  are  put  before  the  mind, 
that  is  not  human.  It  is  not  simply  inhuman,  it 
is  fiendish.  I  hate  the  word,  but  I  am  obliged  to 
use  it.  No  one  has  ever  taken  a  true  measure  of 
what  sinfulness  is  until  he  has  considered  it  in 
this,  its  most  terrible  form. 

And  yet  even  at  this  stage  of  it,  we  need  not 
hang  our  heads  in  despair.  I  am  no  advocate  of 
that  shallow  theology  which  is  simply  a  formulat- 
ing of  the  opinions  of  sinful  fallible  men.  I  hope 
that  God  will  keep  me  from  the  insufferable  con- 
ceitedness  which  denies  that  which  transcends  my 
very  finite  understanding.  I  have  no  wish  to  be 
frivolous  or  to  help  any  of  you  to  a  capability  of 
jesting  in  this  charnel  house  of  corruption  into 
which  we  have  been  looking.  I  want  you  to  feel 
more  than  ever  you  have  done  *'the  exceeding 
sinfulness  of  sin,"  for  only  then  will  you  be  able  to 
appreciate  the  exceeding  goodness  of  God  who 
' '  willeth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner  but  that  all 
should  come  to  repentance." 

"  Where  sin  abounded  grace  did  superabound." 


34  MAN'S  SINFULNESS  AND  INABILITY. 

No  man  who  looks  away  from  his  sin  to  his 
Saviour  need  despair,  but  then  he  must  look  to 
him  as  Saviour,  not  simply  as  Teacher,  not  simply 
as  Exemplar,  not  simply  as  Physician,  as  the 
strong  Son  of  God,  the  only  personalized  power 
strono^er  than  sin  itself.  "When  the  strons:  man 
armed  keepeth  his  palace  his  goods  are  at  peace, 
but  when  a  stronger  than  he  cometh  upon  him,  he 
taketh  away  that  wherein  he  trusteth  and  divideth 
his  spoils."  If  a  man  can  grow  out  of  this  condi- 
tion of  sinfulness  by  natural  development ;  if  every 
highly-cultured  man  be  an  unsinning  man ;  if 
every  old  man  be  nearer  to  the  ideal  of  manhood 
than  when  he  was  young ;  if  these  be  facts  and 
experiences  everywhere  met  with  ;  then  a  Teacher, 
a  Physician,  an  example,  is  needed ;  but  if  other- 
wise, if  it  be  seen  that  man  acting  on  himself,  is 
helpless  to  free  himself,  helpless  to  deliver  himself 
from  the  presence  and  power  of  sinfulness,  and 
from  the  inward  sense  of  guiltiness,  then  he  who 
is  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  case,  must  be 
human  to  understand  him,  but  more  than  human 
to  redeem  and  deliver  him  from  an  enemy  stronger 
than  man  himself. 


m. 

ATONEMENT  AND  EXPIATION. 


But  this  man,  after  he  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins,  for  ever, 
sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God. — Hebrews,  x :    12. 

OUR  theme  this  morning  is  Atonement  and 
Expiation.  I  could  not  satisfy  my  sense 
of  reverence  for  that  which  is  peculiarly  sacred,  if 
I  should  enter  upon  our  brief  consideration  of  the 
thoughts  suggested  by  these  words  controversially . 
In  days  when  so  many  religious  people  have  given 
over  sober  and  steady  thinking,  and  have  taken  to 
dogmatizing,  it  becomes  pastors  to  feed  their  sheep, 
not  to  set  the  dog  of  controversy  at  them.  In 
order  to  vigor  of  body  there  must,  in  each  of  us, 
be  a  good  steady  appetite  for  wholesome  and 
nutritious  food.  And  so  likewise  in  order  to  vigor 
of  mind  and  heart,  there  must  be  a  good  steady 
appetite  for  such  truths^  as  tend  to  enlarge  the 
mind,  and  such  facts,  as  tend  to  vitalize  the 
heart.  Let  us  not  be  scared  at  names  and  words 
which  to  many  have  been  made  odious  by  being 
used  as  party  watchwords  only.     Our  duty  is  to 

35 


36  A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TION. 

try  to  understand  what  they  mean.  Do  they 
stand  for  a  trutJi'^  Not  simply  for  an  opiriion. 
An  opinion  is  the  product  of  a  man's  mind  ;  a 
truth  is  the  product  of  the  Divine  mind.  It  is  in 
accord  with  the  nature  of  things.  Opinions 
change  all  the  time.  Truth  never  changes.  Our 
little  systems  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be.  Truth 
is  not  of  a  day,  or  an  age,  it  is  from  eternity  to 
eternity.  Our  apprehensions  of  it  may  change  — 
will  change  if  we  grow  at  all  —  but  the  change  will 
be,  not  from  larger  to  smaller,  but  from  less  to 
more.  The  change  from  larger  apprehensions 
to  smaller  indicates  moral  deterioration.  The 
change  from  less  to  more  indicates  spiritual 
growth. 

These  words  *' atonement"  and  *' expiation" 
have  become  party  words.  Consequently  many 
persons  have  never  taken  the  trouble  to  try  to  un- 
derstand them.  But  the  man  or  woman  who  in 
religion  is  a  mere  party  man  or  woman  is  certain 
to  be  so  full  of  prejudice  that  he  will  shut  out 
much  truth  which  his  soul  needs.  That  condition 
of  mind  is  not  fair  nor  honest.  The  man  who  is 
sincere,  open,  candid,  wants  to  know  the  truth  as 
far  as  the  limitations  of  the  present  time  will 
allow.  Consequently,  he  is  always  a  disciple, 
always  a  learner,  becomes  assured  of  some  things 
—  feels  the  ground  under  his  feet  firm  as  far  as 
he  has  gone  —  but  is  still  moving   onward   and 


A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TION.  37 

upward.  He  is  a  growing  man  all  the  time,  and 
the  sign  of  growth  is  an  increasing  humility,  that 
is  an  increasing  teachableness,  which  amounts  to 
the  same  thing  as  perpetual  youthfulness  of  spirit. 
He  never  becomes  hardened  in  intellect  or  fossil- 
ized in  heart.  Life  is  full  of  interest  because  of 
the  immense  area  which  is  still  unknown.  *'  At  the 
best,  our  knowledge  is  but  a  little  island  floating 
on  and  amid  an  infinite  sea  of  mystery."  After 
all,  it  is  the  mystery  which  lies  all  around  the  little 
we  know  which  makes  our  life  so  unspeakably 
interesting.  I  am  thankful  that  that  which  I  do 
not  know  is  so  immeasurably  more  than  that  which 
I  know.  I  am  thankful  that  I  am  only  at  the 
beginning  of  things.  I  am  thankful  for  the  ability 
of  recognizing  that  this  life  is  only  a  life  of 
beginnings,  that  we  know  nothing  yet  in  any  other 
than  a  rudimentary  way. 

If  this  be  true  of  life  as  it  is  in  the  lowest 
organism,  how  much  more  of  the  life  of  man,  the 
highest  organism  of  which  we  know  anything? 
Tennyson  plucks  the  little  flower  out  of  the  cran- 
nied wall,  and  as  he  holds  it  in  his  finger,  addreses 
it  in  this  way  :  — 

"  Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 

I  plack  you  out  of  the  crannies  ; 
Hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand, 
Little  flower  —  but  if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 

I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is.  " 


38  A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TION. 

If  there  be  no  rhapsod}^  no  exaggeration  there, 
if  the  littte  poem  be  only  the  ornate  dressing  up 
of  a  simple  true  thought,  ^rkat  shall  we  say  when 
speaking  of  great  facts  concerning  our  own  life, 
such  facts  as  these  which  come  to  us  in  these  two 
words  —  * '  Atonement  and  Expiation  "  —  words. 
let  me  say,  more  for  the  heart  than  the  intellect? 
I  adopt  as  my  own,  the  language  of  a  thoughtful 
speaker  and  say  —  "If,  as  we  believe,  Christ  is  both 
God  and  the  Son  of  God  ;  (and  to  suppose  any  be- 
ing less  than  God  perfectly  manifesting  forth  God, 
is  a  contradiction,)  if  moreover  he  is  Man  as  well 
as  God,  and  if  this  Son  of  God  and  Man  has  made  a 
sacrifice,  in  virtue  of  which  the  sin  of  the  whole 
world  is  taken  away  (so  far  as  God  himself  is 
concerned) ,  then  surely  the  Atonement  effected  by 
this  mysterious  person  must  itself  be  a  mystery, 
the  full  import  of  which  we  cannot  hope  to 
fathom.  No  man  however  wise,  or  learned,  or 
devout,  should  affect  to  comprehend  it ;  no  man 
whatever  his  attainments,  should  venture  to  speak 
of  it  save  w^th  modesty  and  reverence,  and  with  a 
profound  conviction  that  he  knows  it  *'  but  in 
part,"  that  he  sees  it  but  as  *' through  a  glass, 
darkly."  I  adopt  this  language  as  my  own.  It 
exactly  expresses  my  own  feelings.  Atonement 
is  not  a  New  Testament  word.  It  belongs  special- 
ly to  the  Old  Jewish  dispensation.  It  is 
represented  by  a   Hebrew  word  which  means  to 


ATONEMENT  AND  EXPIATION.  39 

cover  up.  When  the  old  Hebrew  did  that  which 
was  appointed  to  put  himself  into  right  relations 
towards  God  —  when  he  offered  the  sacrifice  which 
meant  that  his  will  was  to  do  God's  will,  then  he 
was  said  to  be  atoned  —  that  is,  brought  into 
oneness  with  God.  In  the  sacrifice  offered,  he 
regarded  himself,  his  blood,  that  is  to  say  his  life, 
as  offered  in  consecration  to  God.  He  knew, 
however,  that  this  sacrifice  had  no  meaning  in 
itself.  It  stood  for  another  great  sacrifice  which 
one  day  should  be  offered,  a  perfect  sacrifice,  the 
sacrifice  of  a  spotless  and  sinless  one  who  should 
be  his  representative,  who  should  do  for  him  what 
he  could  not  do  for  himself.  But  this  symbolic  act 
of  sacrifice  of  his  did  something  for  his  heart  and 
conscience,  which  required  to  be  done.  The 
devout  Isi  aslite  could  not  rest  until  he  had  done 
something  to  indicate  that  he  was  not  willingly  a 
rebel  against  God.  His  heart  was  pained,  his 
conscience  was  uneasy,  so  long  as  he  had  not 
performed  an  act  which  'ndicated  the  sorrow  of  his 
soul,  and  the  submission  of  his  will.  The  mere 
general  proclamation  that  God  was  merciful  and 
gracious,  was  not  enough.  If  only  Jehovah  had 
himself  appointed  something  to  be  done,  how 
gladly  would  he  do  it,  if  only  He  had  declared 
that  there  was  some  deed,  the  doing  of  which, 
indicated  that  He  was  at  one  with  the  man  who  had 
sinned,  and  the  man  at  one  with  Him,  how  gladly 


40  A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TIOK 

would  the  devout  Israelite  do  it.  And  so,  in 
answer  to  the  necessities  of  this  nature  of  ours, 
Jehovah  appointed  a  sacrifice  which  at  one  and 
the  same  time,  should  be  prophetic  and  expiatory. 
The  devout  Israelite  offered  the  appointed  sacrifice 

—  it  satisfied  his  heart,  it  appeased  his  conscience, 
and  he  went  to  his  home  rejoicing  that  he  was  at 
peace  with  God. 

I  want  that  we  should  note  these  simple  things  : 

—  1st,  that  the  sacrifice  oflfered  was  required  by 
the  necessities  of  this  nature  of  ours,  which  is 
never  satisfied  by  a  mere  declaration  apart  from 
an  act.  *'  Lord  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  c?o?" 
was  the  cry  of  the  awakened  soul.  *'  What  shall 
I  do  to  be  saved?"  was  the  question  of  the  aroused 
jailor  of  Philippi.  This  is  human  nature  all  the 
world  over.  And  they  who  affirm  that  a  man's 
soul  ought  to  be  satisfied  by  mere  inferences  as  to 
the  nature  of  Deity,  by  mere  inferences  as  to  the 
mercy  of  God,  can  never  have  sufficiently  consid- 
ered what  human  nature  is.  No  soul  but  the 
meanest  could  be  satisfied  with  a  mere  verbal 
declaration  of  this  nature — "  I  forgive  you,  but  I 
don't  want  to  have  anything  to  do  with  you." 
The  little  child  in  the  household  would  teach  us  a 
better  theology  than  that.  If  the  father  says,  '*  I 
forgive  you "  and  then  coolly  turns  his  back  on 
the  child,  is  it  satisfied,  does  it  feel  the  forgive- 
ness ?     Does  it  realize  it  ?     No  ;  it  realizes  it  when 


A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TION.  41 

the  father  puts  his  arms  around  its  neck,  and  the 
child  its  arms  around  the  father's  neck,  and  the 
kisses  of  the  father  bring  the  tears.  There  must 
be  an  act  of  forgiveness  as  well  as  words  of  for- 
giveness, or  our  nature  is  not  satisfied.  And  all 
theories  to  the  contrary  proceed  on  a  very  shallow 
and  inadequate  apprehension  of  what  human  na- 
ture is.  The  heart  and  conscience  of  the  devout 
Israelite  demanded  some  act  which  breathed  for- 
giveness, but  more  than  forgiveness  —  restoration 
to  communion  —  and  the  act  of  sacrifice  was  both 
these. 

2nd,  I  want  that  we  should  notice  further  that 
the  act  must  be  an  appointed  one.  It  must  indi- 
cate God's  will,  not  the  self-will  of  a  sinner. 
Self-will  is  the  root  of  all  sin.  And  so,  even  an 
act  of  worship  which  indicated  the  perpetuation  of 
self-will  would  only  be  a  continuation  of  rebellion. 
That  is  the  explanation  of  the  difterence  in  the 
acts  of  the  first  two  men  of  whom  we  ever  read  as 
off'ering  sacrifice,  Cain  and  Abel?  Abel's  offering 
is  represented  as  being  acceptable,  that  of  Cain  as 
not  acceptable.  Why?  Abel  offered  that  which 
was  appointed  to  be  offered.  Cain  offered  what 
he  chose.  The  one  man  honored  the  will  of  God 
as  supreme,  the  other  honored  his  own  will.  We 
can  never  understand  an  act  until  we  get  down  to 
the  principle  which  is  in  it.  When  the  sinning 
man  has  done  the  appointed  thing,  then  the  heart 


42  A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TJON. 

and  conscience  are  satisfied ;  they  are  assured, 
because  God  himself  has  appointed  the  act.  There 
is  no  satisfaction  to  heart  and  conscience  where 
there  is  no  assurance. 

Eemembering  these  two  ideas,  we  can  have  no 
very  serious  difficulty  as  to  the  meaning  of 
sacrifices  in  the  Old  Testament  times.  The  Crea- 
tor knew  the  necessities  of  our  nature  better  than 
the  theorists  know  them,  and  he  met  those 
necessities  in  the  appointment  of  the  mosiac 
sacrifices. 

But  human  nature  is  the  same  now  as  then.  It 
is  conscious  of  sinfulness.  The  consciousness  is 
nlways  a  troublesome  one  ;  it  may  even  be  acutely 
painful ;  yea,  it  may  become  positively  agonizing. 
It  has  never  been  satisfactory  to  any  but  torpid 
souls  to  issue  simple,  general  declarations  of  the 
Divine  mercifulness.  And,  especially,  when 
mercifulness  is  made  to  mean  easy  good  nature, 
which  does  not  much  discern  the  difference  between 
good  and  evil,  and  does  not  much  care  for  the 
difference.  Any  man  who  thinks,  perceives  that 
on  this  earth  the  most  selfish,  the  most  useless, 
and  the  most  unreliable  people  in  any  community, 
are  these  easy  good-natured  people  who  don't  care 
how  things  go,  so  that  they  are  not  disturbed. 
To  take  the  idea  of  mercifulness  which  belongs  to 
these,  and  transfer  it  to  God,  is  to  give  men  a 
Deity  for  which  the  most  earnest  among  them 


A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TION.  43 

cannot  feel  even  respect.  Men  have  in  them  the 
intuition  that  the  nature  of  God  must  contain, 
that  which  is  represented  to  us  by  the  words, 
Justice  and  Eighteousness.  They  have  an  intuition 
that  He  cannot  be  man's  enemy,  for  He  preserves 
him  in  life,  and  loads  him  with  benefits.  They 
have  also  a  distinct  recognition  that  a  Righteous 
Being  —  a  Just  Being,  cannot  move  down  from  his 
Eighteousness  and  Justice  —  cannot  compromise 
it,  cannot  be  ashamed  of  it,  can  do  nothing  to 
deny  it.  He  must  be  at  unity  with  Himself. 
Abraham  felt  all  this  when  he  exclaimed,  "  Shall 
not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  rigid.  Job  felt 
it  when  he  said,  *'I  know  that  my  Eedeemer 
liveth."  Paul,  too,  when  he  exclaimed,  ''  Let 
God  be  true  though  every  man  be  a  liar.  " 

The  question  forces  itself  upon  every  earnest 
man's  soul,  sooner  or  later  —  How  shall  this 
Eighteous,  this  Holy  God,  who  cannot  change 
from  his  holiness,  be  still  just,  and  yet  enter  into 
fellowship  with  his  men  and  women  who  are  all 
confessedly  sinners  and  rebels?  He  loves  their 
humanity,  for  he  is  the  Author  of  it.  But  He  is, 
and  must  ever  be,  at  war  with  their  sinfulness. 
There  is  the  problem.  It  is  too  deep  for  you  and 
me.  Man  has  free-will.  It  cannot  be  forced. 
How  shall  God  and  man  be  made  one  again  ?  We 
cannot  look  into  the  profundities  of  this  question. 
The  theories  of  the  theologians  as  to  Atonement 


44  A TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA TIOK 

and  Expiation  all  foil  short  of  a  full  explanation. 
That  being  so,  is  it  not  wise  to  take  the  simple 
revealed  facts,  and  leave  the  theories  alone.  Xo 
one  but  He  who  can  look  into  human  life,  and  all 
life,  as  it  is  from  the  beginning  of  the  Creation, 
till  now,  and  on  endlessly  ;  no  one  but  He  who  can 
see  our  relation  to  other  beings,  and  other  worlds, 
can  fathom  the  theme.  But  Scripture  has  taught 
me  this  —  and  I  am  sure  that  I  have  been  willing 
to  learn  ;  I  am  sure  that  I  have  been  w^illing  to 
have  no  opinions  of  my  own,  and  no  views  that 
might  intercept  my  clear  recognition  of  w^hat  it  does 
teach,  it  has  taught  me  that  it  was  necessary  that 
Jesus  should  offer  Himself  as  a  sacrifice  in  order 
that  He  might  deliver  us  from  **the  captivities 
of  evil.  "  It  was  necessary  that  Jesus  should 
off'er  Himself  as  a  sacrifice  in  order  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  God  should  be  so  administered  that 
there  might  be  no  stain  on  the  Divine  purity,  and 
yet  the  man  who  turns  God  ward  might  have  full 
and  free  pardon  and  deliverance  from  the  evil 
which  is  in  him,  and  its  consequences.  It  has 
taught  me  that  it  was  necessary  that  Jesus  the 
Christ  should  put  Himself  at  the  head  of  our 
humanity  and  be  its  Representative  and  do  for  us 
completely  and  perfectly  what  w^e  can  do  only  in 
a  very  imperfect  and  rudimentary  way. 

It  has  taught  me  that  He  came  not  to  alter  the 
will  of  God  —  not  to  set  it  aside  —  but  perfectly 


A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TION.  45 

to  do  it  —  and  that  no  one  but  Jesus  has  done  that 
will  perfectly  on  this  earth.  It  has  taught  me, 
that  when  the  Eternal  Father  of  our  Spirit,  saw 
his  will  perfectly  done  on  this  Earth,  He  made 
the  One  who  did  it  the  custodian  of  all  who  could 
not  do  it  —  gave  them  into  his  hand  —  made  them 
his  possession  and  his  heritage  —  and  so  we  are 
Christ's.  We  belong  to  Him.  We  are  his  people. 
And  neither  can  the  sins  of  this  world  slay  our 
immortal  spirits,  nor  can  the  terrors  of  the  dark 
side  of  the  other  world  touch  our  real  life,  if  we 
cling  to  Him.  That  much  Scripture  has  taught 
me.  And  my  heart  is  satisfied.  My  conscience 
is  satisfied.  And  if  my  intellect  refuses  to  be 
satisfied  I  don't  care.  It  has  never  yet  been 
satisfied  and  probably  never  will  be  —  because  we 
can  know  only  in  part. 

But  the  intellectual  light  of  to-day  will  disap- 
pear before  the  intellectual  light  of  to-morrow,  as 
the  stars  disappear  when  the  sun  rises,  swallowed 
up  in  the  brighter  light.  Man  is  not  all  intellect. 
There  is  something  more  precious  in  him  than 
iiitellect,  although  this  proud,  haughty  part  of  his 
nature,  like  an  ill-bred  and  unrefined  man,  is  ever 
asserting  itself  as  supreme.  Religious  teaching, 
which  is  simply  addressed  to  the  intellectual  in 
man,  may  make  disputants  and  controversialists 
and  conceited  sectarians,  "ever  learning  and 
never  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  but 


46  A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TION. 

in  order  to  wake  the  whole  of  our  nature  into 
healthy  life,  we  need  no  diminished  Christ,  no 
Christ  reduced  to  the  stature  of  a  fallen  man,  a 
man  Avho  was  not  here  yesterday  and  will  not  be 
here  tomorrow.  We  need  something  else  than  a 
candle,  yea,  than  a  thousand  candles  of  man's 
manufacture,  if  we  are  to  make  the  flowers  ffrow 
in  our  gardens,  the  trees  to  be  bright  with  foliage, 
and  heavy  with  fruitage,  we  need  the  full  orbed 
Sun.  And  so  too,  if  we  are  to  have  in  our 
churches.  Christian  men  and  Christian  women,  not 
simply  religious  controversalists  and  religious 
wranglers,  we  need  the  full-orbed  Christ ;  He  who 
spake,  as  never  man  spake,  to  the  Intellect ;  He 
who  whispered  to  the  Conscience  and  it  ceased  its 
upbraidings  ;  He,  who  in  the  might  of  His  unbend- 
ing integrity,  stood  before  Pilate  and  Herod  the 
world's  Judges,  and  even  they  found  no  fault  in 
Him ;  He,  who  on  Calvary,  mutely  appealed  as 
none  other  ever  did  or  ever  will  to  the  human 
heart,  and  that  heart  w^ept  in  penitence  and  joy 
and  gladness.  For  we  cannot  refuse  to  recognize 
this,  that  those  who  think  only  of  the  Sacrifice 
which  Jesus  made  of  Himself  as  a  manifestation  of 
the  Love  of  God,  may  only  too  easily  come  to 
rely  on  that  Love  without  responding  to  it.  In 
that  case,  so  far  as  the  individual  is  concerned,  the 
greatest  of  all  facts  ever  revealed  to  the  human 
mind  is  outside  of  us.     It  is  something  looked  at. 


ATONEMENT  AND  EXPIATION.  47 

not  appropriated.  Every  unappropriated  good 
necessarily  becomes  a  condemnation.  The  soul, 
not  capable  of  responding  with  its  love  to  God's 
love,  is  in  a  lost  state  now,  and  must,  by  whatso- 
ever discipline  and  affliction  God  may  send,  be 
brought  into  another  state  before  it  can  see  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 

I  do  not  wonder  that  the  great  soul  of  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  should  test  the  condition 
of  every  man  by  this  simple  but  all-sufficient  test. 
Does  the  love  of  his  heart  respond  to  the  wondrous 
love  which  Jesus  has  shown  towards  men  ?  I  do 
not  wonder  that  the  holy  indignation  within  him 
should  glow  and  burn  until  it  voiced  itself  in 
these  words,  *'If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  let  him  he  Anathema!'' 

You  and  I,  brethren,  need  not  concern  ourselves 
about  Adam  and  his  sin,  and  its  consequences, 
that  is  all  done  and  done  with.  The  question  for 
each  man,  to  whom  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God 
is  preached,  is  this,  *' why  is  there  no  loving  re- 
sponse in  my  heart  to  the  love  which  is  in  Christ 
to  me?"  If  there  be  one  truth  taught  in  the  New 
Testament  more  clearly  and  more  frequently  than 
another,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  this  —  that  Jesus 
Christ  came  into  this  world  to  put  away  sin  by  the 
sacrifice  of  himself.  Is  it  not  enough  ?  Is  it  not 
what  we  need?  In  this  turbulent  world,  this 
world  of  strife,  this  world  of  bitter  enemies  and 


48  A  TONEMENT  AND  EXPIA  TION. 

false  friends,  this  world  of  uncertainty  and  change, 
this  world  in  which  we  know  not  what  a  day  may 
bring  forth,  this  world  in  which  so  many  prefer 
the  fellowship  of  devils  to  the  fellowship  of  God 
and  good  men,  it  must  surely  be  a  necessity  for 
the  heart  to  have  some  centre  where  it  can  rest 
and  find  peace.  For  if  the  heart  be  at  rest  the 
man  is  strong  and  brave  in  trials  and  afflictions 
which  ruffle  the  outside.  That  centre  is  given  us 
in  Him  who  has  taught  us  all  of  our  Father  God 
we  know.  And  it  seems  to  me  our  true  attitude 
is  that  expressed  in  the  words  of  the  hymn ;  — 

"My  faith  would  lay  her  hand 

Ou  that  dear  head  of  thine. 
While  like  a  penitent  I  stand 

And  there  confess  my  sin. 

My  soul  looks  back  to  see 

The  burdens  thou  did'st  bear. 
When  hanging  on  the  accursed  tree. 

And  trusts  her  guilt  was  there. 

Believing,  we  rejoice 

To  see  the  curse  remove; 
We  bless  the  Lamb  with  cheerful  voice 

And  sing  his  bleeding  love.'* 


IV. 

THE  DIYIKE  HELPEE. 


And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you  another  Com- 
forter,  that  He  may  abide  with  you  for  ever. —  Johtiy  xiv :  i6. 

OUE  thoughts  this  morning  are  all  contained 
in  the  one  thought  of  the  "  Divine  Helper." 
In  speaking  within  such  limitations  as  are  forced 
upon  me,  I  have  preferred  that  general  title,  for 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  to  others,  because  it  keeps 
closer  to  the  meaning  of  the  original  word,  than 
any  other.     The  word  used  by  the  Apostle  John, 
to  designate  this  Divine  Helper,  is  translated  both 
in  the  Authorized  and  Eevised  Versions  of  the 
New  Testament  as  Comforter,     Literally  the  word 
means  ''  One  called  alongside  for  help."     Bearing 
in  mind  that  this  is  the  radical  idea,  I  propose  to 
ask  your  attention  to  a  few  considerations  which 
may  be  of  some   practical   service   to   inquiring 
minds.     Only  suggestions  can  be  made.     A  lono- 
course  of  sermons  would  be  necessary  for  anything 
like  a  respectful  expounding  of  the  ^Scriptures, 
which  bear  on  this  theme.     And  even  then  the 

49 


50  THU:  DI  VINE  HELPER. 

dimly  perceived  but  unspeakable  would  still  be 
the  greater.  For,  in  order  to  growth  in  knowledge, 
and  growth  in  spirituality,  we  have  to  force  our 
proud  intellectuality  to  its  knees  —  yea,  if  in  true 
Eastern  fashion,  it  lies  prone  on  the  earth  biting 
the  dust,  the  attitude  is  far  more  becoming  than 
that  of  erect  self-willed  ignorance  with  its  innocent 
absurdity,  "I  don't  believe  in  anything  that  I 
cannot  understand,"  the  only  fitting  reply  to 
which  innocent  absurdity  is,  ''  Then  you  believe 
nothing  at  all,  not  even  your  own  existence, 
for  most  assuredly  you  do  not  understand  it." 
When  the  nature  of  that  Source  of  life,  from  which 
all  spiritual  life  comes  is  the  theme,  we  bow  our 
heads  and  listen  to  anyone  who  can  teach  us  as 
much  as  we  are  capal)le  of  receiving,  and  there  is 
but  One  who  is  competent  to  teach  us  authorita- 
tively. If  we  have  humility  enough  to  sit  at  His 
feet,  and  learn  of  Him,  we  shall  eventually  arrive 
at  such  perceptions  as  are  necessary  to  enable  us 
to  live  a  life  of  practical  Christian  usefulness. 
That  is  all  that  our  God  requires  from  us. 

The  first  thing  we  have  to  recognize,  when  we 
think  on  a  theme  of  this  kind,  is  that  man.  has  a 
body  and  is  a  spirit.  Therefore  he  is  capable  of 
thought  on  spiritual  things  —  things  above  the 
material.  If  he  were  not  a  spirit,  he  would  not  be 
capable  of  such  thought.  As  the  Rev.  E.  H. 
Sears,  in  his  helpful  book,  ''The  Fourth  Gospel 


THE  DIVINE  HELPER.  51 

the  Heart  of  Christ,"  says,  ^*  Man  is  natural  and 
supernatural.     By  his  natural  organs  he  is  placed 
in  open   and   necessary  relations  with    time   and 
space.     By  his  immortal  faculties  he  is  placed  in 
necessary  relations   with   a   supersensible   world. 
*         *         *         All  men  have  intuitive    notions 
of  spiritual  and  Divine  things.     Into  every  soul 
comes  an  influx  of  the  supernatural,  and  breathings 
from  the  Lord  which  are  deeper  than  all  human 
teachings,  and  without  which  all  human  teachings 
were  in  vain.     Were  it  not  for  these  inspirations, 
the  eternal  life  might  as  well  be  preached  to  trees 
and  animals  as  to  human  beings."     We  have  to 
recognize  that  we  are  taught  from  within  as  well 
as  from  without.     We  have  to  recognize  clearly 
and  distinctly  that  our  life  is  not  self-originated 
and   self-derived  — that  we  are  not  independent, 
but   dependent     beings  — that    we    live     because 
it    is     God's    will    that   we    should    live  — that 
underneath   our  mind,   supporting    and    sustain- 
ing it,  is  the  Divine  Mind  — that  our  personality 
needs  to  account  for  it  another  personality  —  that 
thus  our  life  is  permissive  and  not  entirely  or 
chiefly  in  our  own  keeping.     These  truths  have 
to  be  recognized  before  we  can  touch  this  theme. 
Now,  would  it  not  be  an  altogether  strange  and 
unaccountable  thing  if  the  Author  of  our  Being 
had  so  closed  it  up  that  He  could  gain  no  entrance 
to  it  ?     Would  it  not  be  a  strange  thin^  if  He  had 


62  THE  DIVINE  HELPER. 

SO  made  us  as  that  we  could  really  exist  altogether 
cut  off  from  Him  ?  Would  not  that  indicate  that 
He  made  us  in  sport?  That  we  were  mere  toys, 
to  be  thrown  aside  after  a  while?  That  He 
created  us  for  some  other  reason  than  that  we 
might  hold  fellowship  with  Himself,  and  enter 
into  the  uses,  and  joys,  and  delights  of  His 
Universe  ?  Would  not  the  Creator  have  volunta- 
rily destroyed  the  unity  of  his  Creation  if  he  had 
made  us  so  that  we  could  exist  independently  of 
Himself?  In  the  light  of  these  and  such  like 
considerations  the  revealed  facts  of  inspiration  and 
spiritual  influence  become  not  probable  simply, 
but  necessary. 

The  idea  of  the  olden  time,  **  There  is  a  spirit 
in  man  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  giveth 
him  understanding,"  is  in  agreement  with  what  we 
see  must  be. 

Now  when  in  the  development  of  revelation  as 
given  us  in  the  Scriptures,  we  find  a  Trinity  in 
the  Godhead,  it  naturally  starts  discussion  and  de- 
bate, because  at'  first  it  seems  to  militate  against 
the  idea  of  the  Unity  of  the  Godhead.  And  that 
idea  seems  to  us  very  necessary  and  very  precious 
if  we  are  to  be  kept  from  going  in  the  old  heathen 
direction  of  polytheism.  But  the  more  we  think 
of  it  the  more  we  perceive  that  a  mere  solitary 
oneness  is  not  unity.  Unity  implies  and  demands 
something  of  variety.     The  unity  of  our  own  na- 


THE  DIVINE  HELPER.  63 

tiire  demands  it ;  the  unity  of  Creation  demands 
it.  The  idea  of  Trinity  in  Unity  disturbs  us. 
And  so,  instead  of  accepting  the  fact,  and  culti- 
vating a  modesty  and  reverence  which  forbids  us 
to  dogmatize  on  facts  beyond  our  reach,  we  begin 
to  try  and  get  the  fact  put  into  some  form  in 
which  we  can  understand  it.  And  so  in  time, 
human  speculations  and  opinions  come  to  occupy 
the  place  of  Divine  Eevelation. 

I  acknowledge  that  it  is  natural  for  men  to 
reason  and  argue  and  speculate  and  form  opinions. 
A  living  mind  is  full  of  movement  and  activity. 
And  the  movement  and  activity  within  it  are  suf- 
ficiently accounted  for  only  by  the  recognition  of 
a  Power  external  to  the  mind  moving  it.  Does  it 
not,  however,  become  us  to  recognize  that  great 
spiritual  truths,  which  out-measure  the  capacity  of 
all  human  minds,  have  never  originated  in  them 
and  are  not  to  be  explored  by  them?  And  no 
controversies  have  been  more  useless,  certainly 
none  more  irreverent,  than  those  in  which  mere 
debaters  have  occupied  themselves  in  settling  the 
nature  of  that  Trinity  which  is  revealed  as  in  the 
Godhead  of  the  Creator. 

I  do  not  propose  to  be  drawn  into  this  theme  as 
a  controversalist.  My  business  is  very  simple  — 
to  make  such  suggestions  as  shall  help  inquirers. 
In  prosecuting  that  business,  I  would  ask  you  to 
recognize  that  the  human  mind  needs   for  its  own 


54  THE  DIVINE  HELPER. 

satisfaction  the  revelation  of  an  Original  Source 
of  Life,  corresponding  in  its  powers  to  that  which 
is  objectively  infinite.  It  needs  that  that  Original 
Source  of  Life  should  so  limit  itself  that  it  can 
be  known. 

It  needs  further  that  being  known  under  limi- 
tations, it  should  still  be  able  to  so  distribute  itself 
that  all  can  be  visited,  directed,  helped.  There 
cannot  be  any  doubt  of  this  triune  necessity.  Is 
it  not  provided  for,  in  the  revelation  of  the  nature 
of  Godhead  —  in  the  three  terms  used  as  express- 
ing Deity,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit? 

I  admit  that  there  can  be  no  analogies  in  the 
material  creation  to  illustrate  this  great  fact. 
Material  nature  is  too  unelastic,  too  stiff,  too  for- 
mal to  be  used  in  this  connection.  And  yet  is 
there  not  something  which  looks  towards  this 
truth  in  what  we  know  of  light?  Men  sometimes 
have  thought  that  they  had  the  laugh  on  the  old 
historian  and  legislator,  Moses,  because  in  the 
book  of  Genesis  the  record  intimates  that  light 
was  created  before  there  was  any  sun  in  the 
heavens.  Accordingly  all  superficial  minds,  from 
Voltaire,  the  genius  of  sarcasm,  down  to  many  of 
the  knowing  youths  of  our  own  day,  have  made 
merry  over  this  remarkably  ignorant  old  world 
hero.  Unfortunately,  however,  for  Voltaire  and 
those  of  his  disposition  and  temper,  science  pa- 
tiently marching  on  from  fact  to  fact,  has  event- 


THE  DIVINE  HELPER.  55 

ually  arrived  at  the  conviction  that  light  is  in  its 
nature  entirely  independent  of  the  sun.  *<  It  is  a 
vibration  of  the  ether  in  which  the  sun  is  in  our 
time,  no  doubt,  the  chief  agent,  but  which  may  be 
produced  by  the  action  of  many  causes."  And  so 
•of  other  discoveries  which  tend  to  show  that  Moses 
knew  what  Science  has  only  recently  found  out. 
How  he  knew  it  is  a  question  to  which  we  wait  for 
an  answer. 

Now  take  these  facts  about  light.  First,  it  was 
diffused,  then  gathered  up,  as  far  as  our  world  is 
concerned,  into  the  sun,  and  yet,  by  the  sun,  it  is 
distributed  everywhere,  so  that  every  flower  gets 
its  portion  and  every  spring  blossom  is  what  it  is 
in  beauty  and  fragrance  because  of  the  influence 
upon  it,  of  an  orb  more  than  ninety  millions  of 
miles  away.  To  my  mind  there  is  something  in 
this  fact  which  looks  as  though  it  might  be  used 
to  help  us  in  our  thought  on  this  theme.  I  do  not 
call  it  a  simile  or  metaphor  or  any  kind  of  an  illus- 
tration, only  a  helpful  suggestion  in  the  region  of 
material  things. 

Still,  if  it  be  a  fact  of  our  every  day  life,  a  fact 
so  common  as  to  lose  its  wonderfulness  to  all  but 
the  most  reflective  and  thoughtful  minds,  that 
every  tiny  bud  and  flower  all  through  the  earth 
is  what  it  is  because  of  the  influence  on  it  of  an 
orb  more  than  ninety  millions  of  miles  away,  are 
we  asking  you  to  receive  anything  absurd,  any- 


56  '  THE  DIVINE  HELPER. 

thing  impossible  or  improbable,  when  we  aver 
that  it  is  revealed  that  every  soul  of  man  every- 
where, owes  its  best  thonghts,  its  purest  impulses, 
its  noblest  aspirations  to  the  influences  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  upon  it?  And  as  personality  in 
man  demands  and  proves  personality  in  God,  s(t 
these  influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  soul 
are  personal.  They  are  such  influences  as  a 
person  produces  on  a  person.  Silent  as  the  light, 
they  are  none  the  less  powerful  because  of  their 
silentness.  In  the  quietude  of  the  soul  that  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  is  operating,  as  our  Lord  taught  us, 
convincing  of  Sin,  of  Righteousness,  of  Judgment, 
creating  within  us,  that  is  to  say,  a  sense  of  Sin,  a 
sense  of  Righteousness,  a  sense  too  that  the  pres- 
ent order  of  things  is  not  to  last  forever,  that 
there  is  a  period  when  the  great  decision  will  be 
made,  that  there  shall  not  continuously  be  this 
present  confusion  of  Sin  and  Righteousness,  of 
Truth  and  Falsehood,  the  Bad  often  lauding  it 
over  the  Good.  There  is  in  us  all  a  sense  that 
this  cannot  last,  that  it  must  come  to  an  end. 
And  this  sense  of  sin  in  us,  this  sense  of  Right- 
eousness, this  feeling  that  there  must  be  a  judg- 
ment which  shall  reveal  and  deliver,  is  the  sign  of 
the  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  on  our 
spirits. 

Who  of  us  does  not  see  how  much  of  dignity 


THE  DIVINE  HELPER.  57 

and  worth  is  added  to  this  life  of  ours  by  this 
revelation  that  the  spirit  of  man  is  ever  open  to 
the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  ?  Why 
can  man  think  thoughts  that  never  occur  to  an 
animal  ?  Why  can  he  write  books  like  MiUon's 
Paradise  Lost,  Dante's  De  Coelo  et  Inferno,  that 
wondrous  book  of  Job,  those  ever-mspiring 
Psalms  of  David,  Tennyson's  In  Memoriam, 
Longfellow's  Psalm  of  Life,  uncounted  volumes 
on  a  life  above  the  material  life  ?  Because  he  is  a 
spirit.  Because  being  a  spirit,  the  push  of  the 
Eternal  Spirit  is  ever  on  his,  moving  him,  stirring 
him  into  thought  and  feeling,  making  him  aspire, 
suggesting  pra^^er,  which  is  only  devout  aspiration. 
This  is  why.  We  all  of  us  have  done  our  best  to 
sink  into  the  animal  life  and  find  our  satisfaction 
there  and  have  failed.  We  have  failed  because 
our  God  would  not  let  us  succeed.  By  the 
influences  of  His  Holy  Spirit  He  has  been  brooding 
over  us,  moving  in  us,  keeping  our  conscience  in 
life,  stirring  up  our  feelings.  The  reason  why  the 
sap  in  all  the  trees  is  being  vitalized  just  now  and 
sending  out  bud  and  leaf,  is  because  the  beams  of 
the  sun  are  in  more  energetic  operation  within. 
And  the  reason  why  any  of  us  have  at  any  time 
been  stirred  into  religious  thought,  and  devout 
aspiration,  is  because  the  energetic  influences  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  have  gained  access  to  our  minds 
and  hearts.     The  light  has  been  poured  into  us 


58  THE  DIVINE  HELPER 

from  an  unseen  hand.  It  is  because  of  the 
undying  energy  of  this  Holy  Spirit  of  God  that 
we  have  any  devout  thoughts,  any  filial  feelings 
God  ward,  any  disposition  to  pray,  any  delight  in 
praise,  any  faith  Christward,  any  love  to  our 
fellow-men.  It  is  not  our  doing;  it  is  His, 
''  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit, 
saith  the  Lord."  What  have  we  that  we  have  not 
received'^  What  have  we  orio^inated?  Xothinor 
but  sin.  Everything  else  has  its  root  in  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God.  Our  ability  of  perceiving  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ  of  God  is  of  God.  No  man 
can  call  Jesus  Lord,  but  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Of 
all  gifts  of  God,  this  practically  is  the  greatest. 
There  is  nothing  good  in  human  nature  that  is  not 
traceable  to  it. 

Now,  this  era  in  which  we  live,  is  peculiarly  the 
dispensation  of  the  Spirit.  The  New  Testament 
seems  to  indicate  that  while  there  is  a  general, 
what  w^e  may  be  allowed  to  call  a  natural,  creating 
and  sustaining  energy  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  all 
men,  in  all  places  and  times,  according  to  their 
ability  of  receiving  it,  there  is  in  this  era  since  the 
coming  into  this  world's  life  of  the  Christ  of  God 
a  much  more  copious  exercise  of  Divine  energy 
upon  the  soul  of  man,  so  much  so  that  **  where  sin 
abounded,  grace  did  much  more  abound."  No 
one  can  doubt  this,  that  since  the  advent  of  the 
One  who  stands  before  us  as  God's  Christ,  the 


THE  DIVINE  HELPER.  59 

world  has  had  new  energy  in  it,  new  movement, 
new  life,  purer  amliition,  loftier  aspiration. 
Tha¥  **  power  from  on  high  "  which  was  promised 
to  the  Apostles  of  Christianity,  and  which  made 
itself  specially  felt  at  Pentecost,  was  not  an 
exceptional  gift  to  them.  It  belongs  to  all  who 
could  receive  it.  I  believe  that  we  should  under- 
stand this  truth  more  if  we  were  less  self-dependent 
and  less  dependent  on  material  things,  than  we 
ever  can  understand  it  in  the  present  condition  of 
society.  The  greatest  as  well  as  the  best  man,  is 
he  who  has  the  largest  receptivity.  An  Apostle 
speaks  of  the  old  man  and  the  new  man.  The 
new  man  is  the  Christian  man.  The  old  man  is 
the  mere  selfish  materialist,  the  man  who  is  the 
centre  and  circumference  of  his  OAvn  world. 
When  a  man  is  brought  to  act  from  new  motives, 
new  principles,  and  aims  at  a  new  and  higher  life, 
when  his  own  birth  and  death  are  not  the  bounds 
of  his  horizon,  but  he  perceives  the  necessity  for 
Eternity  in  order  to  develop  the  larger  life  which 
is  in  him,  and  of  which  he  is  conscious,  is  he  not 
a  new  man  ?  Is  it  not  clear  that  he  is  born  from 
above  ?  There  is  nothing  in  the  flesh  to  account 
for  these  new  views  and  aspirations.  There  is 
nothinor  in  the  animal  to  suirsrest  to  his  mind  the 
spiritual.  There  is  nothing  in  the  finite  to  suggest 
the  infinite.  Why  has  he  these  thoughts  and 
feelings,   these   cravings    and    aspirations,   these 


60  THE  DIVINE  HELPER 

dissatisfied  longings,  these  soarings  beyond  and 
above  the  terrestrial  ?  He  has  them  because  of  tlie 
visitings  to  his  Spirit  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
And  if  he  does  not  yield  to  them,  if  he  resists  them, 
if  he  puts  them  among  dreams,  if  he  tries  to  rid 
himself  of  them,  if  he  goes  into  societies  where 
nothing  of  them  will  be  recognized,  if  he  exercises 
himself  in  the  opposite  of  these,  dDing  everything 
he  can  to  materialize  and  sensualize  his  mind, 
he  is  fighting  against  God ;  to  use  Apostolic 
speech  he  is  grieving  the  Spirit  of  God,  he  is  try- 
ing to  put  out  the  fire  lit  within  him  ;  he  is  doing 
what  in  him  lies  to  ''  quench  the  Spirit."  Thus 
the  case  is  represented  to  us  by  our  Lord  and 
His  Apostles. 

Their  teaching  explains  to  us  the  meaning  ot 
our  inward  dissatisfactions.  This  nature  of  ours 
must  ever  be  a  problem  to  us,  *'the  flesh  lust- 
ing against  the  Spirit  and  the  Spirit  against  the 
flesh,"  a  problem  insoluble  until  we  recog- 
nize that  the  nature  of  God  is  round  about 
us,  that  "  in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being,"  as  much  and  as  really  as  the  flowers  and 
birds  live,  and  move,  and  have  their  being  in  the 
sun-impregnated  atmosphere.  Then  we  begin  to 
understand  why  conscience  will  not  rest,  why  the 
heart  within  us  is  not  at  peace,  why  the  mind 
cannot  be  kept  from  thinking,  why  unsyllabled 
prayers  move  noiselessly  within  our  souls.     It  is 


TEE  DIVINE  HELPER.  61 

the  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit  within  saying  to  us, 
* '  This  is  not  your  rest ;  there  remaineth  a  rest  for 
the  people  of  God." 

That  which  M.  de  Laveleye  has  written  of  so- 
ciety in  general  is  true  of  every  individual  life  : 
*'  There  is  in  human  affairs  one  order  which  is  the 
best.  That  order  is  not  always  the  one  which 
exists  ;  but  it  is  the  order  which  should  exist  for 
the  greatest  good  of  humanity.  God  knows  it 
and  wills  it;  man's  duty  it  is  to  discover  and 
establish  it." 


V. 

THE  WITNESSING  CHUECH. 


Which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all. — 
Ephesians,  i :   23. 

THE  questions,  what  is  a  Christian  church? 
what  its  relation  to  the  Christ  from  whom 
it  takes  its  name  ?  what  the  conditions  of  mem- 
bership in  it?  what  its  relation  to  society  in 
general,  and  all  such  questions,  have  to  be 
answered  in  the  light  of  the  Person  and  work  of 
Him  who  is  its  Head.  The  Church  is  called  the 
body  of  Christ.  Through  his  body  a  man  holds 
communication  with  the  outer  world  and  works  in 
and  on  that  outer  world.  So  through  His  church 
Jesus  the  Christ  acts  upon  society,  upon  men  in 
general.  I  do  not  say  that  this  is  the  only  me- 
dium through  which  He  works  and  acts,  but  it  is 
the  principal  medium.  A  church,  then,  mu,st  be 
organically  fitted  to  express  the  mind  and  will  of 
Christ.  Every  thing  ecclesiastical  which  is  not  so 
fitted  is  an  encumbrance,  a  hindrance,  and  not  a 
help. 


THE  WITNESSING  CHUBCE.  63 

So  far  as  any  church  expresses  only  the  mind  of 
man  in  any  age  or  generation,  so  far  it  is  defec- 
tive. Ecclesiastical  constitutions  exist  in  which 
our  Lord  has  no  direct  and  immediate  influence. 
There  is  so  much  put  between  Him  and  His 
church  that  His  aspect  to  the  members  must  be 
like  that  of  a  man  at  the  small  end  of  an  inverted 
telescope.  Everything  \Vhich  comes  between  the 
soul  of  man  and  the  Christ  which  is  not  transpa- 
rent, yea,  which  has  not  in  it  the  power  of 
bringing  this  Christ  nearer  to  the  soul,  is  so  much 
hindrance  to  a  human  spirit  in  its  strivings  God- 
ward. 

In  inquiring  as  to  the  nature  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  the  following  ideas  demand  recognition  : — 

1.  Christ  Jesus  is  its  head;  its  sole  head,  its 
source  of  doctrine,  of  law  and  of  order.  He  only 
has  authority.  '*  One  is  your  Master  even  Christ, 
and  all  ye  are  brethren." 

Of  course  in  every  society  there  must  be  a 
head.  Even  a  mob  must  have  a  leader.  There 
must  in  every  society  be  law  and  order.  Other- 
wise there  can  be  no  peace  and  no  progress.  The 
self-will  of  the  individual  becomes  everything. 
And  in  such  a  state  of  things  there  can  be  no  co- 
operated movement.  The  simpler  any  organiza- 
tion is  the  more  catholic  it  is,  and  the  more 
competent  for  the  highest  ends.  The  sole  head- 
ship of  Christ  in  the  Church  is  the  basis  doctrine 


64  THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH. 

of  all  law  and  order.  That  headship  was  distinctly 
acknowledged  by  the  Apostles.  Passages  from 
the  Gospels  and  Epistles  might  be  quoted  if  it 
w^ere  necessary,  to  prove  how  jealously  this  head- 
ship was  guarded,  both  by  our  Lord  himself  and 
by  his  Apostles.  ''  No  servant  can  serve  two  mas- 
ters," is  our  Lord's  warning  to  those  who  would 
try  the  experiment  of  a  double  allegiance. 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Eomans,  St.  Paul  almost 
indignantly  repudiates  the  idea  of  one  member  of 
the  church  claiming  authority  over  another  when 
he  asks:  **Who  art  thou  that  judgest  another 
man's  servant  ?  To  his  own  master  he  standeth  or 
falleth."  In  the  light  of  such  passages  as  these,  it 
is  strange  that  such  abuses  as  exist  should  have 
crept  into  the  ecclesiastical  world.  Lordship  in 
the  Church,  says  Wycliffe,  is  forbidden,  brother- 
hood is  commanded.  I  know  of  nothing  of  more 
practical  importance  than  that  we  should  never 
forget  that  Headship  and  Authority  in  the  Church 
are  vested  in  One  and  in  One  only.  Let  us  not 
abuse  the  idea  by  inferring  that  there  is  no 
Authority,  and  that  men  can  do  in  the  church  as 
the  whim  takes  them.  Nothing  could  be  farther 
from  the  truth  of  things  than  such  an  inference. 
There  are  law  and  order  in  the  Church,  but  the 
law  is  not  derived  from  man,  and  the  order  is  not 
such  as  he  has  instituted.  Therefore  is  the  law  so 
sacred  and  the  order  so  impressive.     Its  very  sim- 


THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH.  65 

plicity  may  mislead  us  ;  not  having  our  eyes  open  to 
perceive  that  the  simplest  ideas  are  parental,  that 
they  contain  in  them  no  end  of  fruitiul  and  legiti- 
mate applications.  There  cannot  be  room  for  a 
doubt,  that  our  Lord,  in  giving  two  sacraments, 
and  in  instituting  a  ministry,  intended  a  visible 
Church  on  earth.  There  can  be  as  little  room  for 
doubt  that  He  intended  that  the  acknowledijment 
of  His  sole  headship  over  them,  should  be  the  first 
and  chief  sign  of  membership  in  that  church. 
The  man  who  has  no  ability  of  owning  the  master- 
ship of  any  one  but  himself  and  his  own  will,  has 
no  place  and  can  have  no  place  in  the  Christian 
Church.     He  is  self-excluded. 

If  we  are  willing  to  submit  to  be  taught  by 
Christ,  to  be  guided  by  Him,  to  be  controlled  by 
Him,  we  are  of  his  Church.  That  willingness  is 
God's  call  in  us.  And  whatever  special  experiences 
we  may  have  or  may  not  have,  they  are  entirely 
unreliable,  entirely  deceitful  indeed,  if  we  have 
not  that  willinofness.  Havino^  that  willingness 
however  inexperienced  we  may  be,  however 
uninstructed,  however  spiritually  dull  and  incapa- 
ble, or  however  richly  endowed  with  the  capacity 
of  spiritual  perception,  we  are  without  doubt 
under  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God  and  are  of 
that  numberless  number  who  constitute  the  church 
of  Christ.  Let  me  say  plainly  that  genuine  self- 
depreciation  is  no  disqualification  for  membership 


66  THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH. 

•  in  the  church  of  Christ ;  rather  is  it  of  the  nature 
of  qualification;  the  consciousness  of  ''not  be- 
ing good  enough,"  is  no  disqualification  but 
otherwise ;  if  that  feeling  be  genuine  and  not 
assumed,  it  is  an  element  in  self-knowledge.  The 
feeling  '  I  shall  never  be  able  to  be  consistent '  is 
no  disqualification,  or  the  whole  membership 
would  have  to  step  down  and  out.  Christ  is  able 
to  keep  us  from  falling  away  from  Himself,  and  that 
is  the  crucial  thing.  Our  ability  is  not  self- 
derived,  it  is  imparted.  Willingness  to  be  led 
and  guided,  and  saved  from  sin  and  its 
consequences  by  Him  who  is  the  Head  of  the 
Church  —  this  is  the  essential  thing  in  qualification. 
Without  this  willingness  we  have  no  place  and  no 
right  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 

2.  The  membership  of  the  Church  is  a  brother- 
hood. If  we  have  the  ability  of  the  subordination 
of  our  own  wills  to  the  will  of  Christ,  the  practical 
result  will  be,  that  we  shall  be  of  the  same  feeling 
and  disposition  as  all  others  dowered  with  the 
same  ability.  The  spirit  of  brotherhood  will  be 
in  us.  For  when  anything  of  the  love  of  God 
enters  the  heart,  the  love  of  man  comes  with  it. 
The  one  is  the  result  and  the  sign  of  the  other. 
And  the  love  of  man  is  not  some  sentimental 
feeling  which  is  here  to  day  and  gone  tomorrow. 
It  is  that  disposition  which  shows  itself  in 
sympathy  and  goodwill,  which  is  pained  when  it 


THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH.  67 

pains  others,  which  seeks  to  be  united  with  others 
in  all  such  acts  of  generous  helpfuhiess  as  are 
feasible.  It  is  the  diametric  opposite  of  the  spirit 
of  judgment  and  accusation.  It  takes  note  of  the 
Master's  words,  **  Judge  not  that  ye  be  not  judged  ; 
condemn  not  that  ye  be  not  condemned."  When 
circumstances  forbid  it  to  do  good  it  resolutely 
refuses  to  do  evil  to  any  man.  If  it  can  find  a 
good  motive  for  an  action  it  refuses  to  believe  in 
a  bad  one.  It  seeks  to  be  in  unity  with  all  who 
in  sincerity  submit  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It 
is  ever  mindful  of  the  Savior's  prayer,  **  That  they 
all  may  be  one  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me  and  I  in 
thee,  that  they  may  be  one  in  us,  that  the  world 
may  know  that  thou  has  sent  me."  To  be  brothers 
of  all  who  will  have  us  for  brothers,  brothers  of 
all  ' '  who  name  the  name  of  Christ  and  depart 
from  iniquity,"  this  is  the  aim,  the  hope,  the 
ambition  of  the  true  Christian.  Our  minds  and 
hearts  need  society.  God  has  so  constituted  us 
that  we  cannot  stand  alone.  The  individual  as  an 
individual  is  not  God's  idea  of  man  but  the 
individual  in  family  relationships.  We  know  this 
because  God  has  made  family  relationship 
necessary  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  human  race. 
Yea,  he  speaks  of  the  church  as  a  family,  **0f 
whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is 
named."  So  a  disciple  of  Christ  standing  apart 
in  his  individualism  is  not  God's  idea  of  a  Christian, 


68  THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH. 

but  a  disciple  in  the  family,  one  of  many. 
"  Members  of  one  body,  every  act  of  separation 
and  self-will,  is  an  offence  against  that  body  and 
against  its  head."  <'One  is  your  master,  even 
Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethen,"  this  brief  sentence 
covers  the  whole  ground.  All  else  in  practical 
church  life  is  included  in,  and  derived  from,  these 
two  abilities,  the  ability  of  the  subordination  of 
our  own  self-will  to  the  will  of  Christ,  and  the 
ability  of  persistent  untiring  brotherliness  in 
speech  and  conduct. 

It  is  necessary  to  add  that  the  members  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  are  called  by  other  names  than 
this  of  "  brethren."  This  indicates  the  tone  and 
temper  of  their  minds.  They  are  called 
"  believers  "  and  "disciples,"  which  words  indi- 
cate their  standing  towards  their  Lord.  They  are 
called  *' saints,"  that  is,  separated  ones,  which  word 
implies  that  they  refuse  to  be  controlled  by  the 
world's  ideas  and  fashions,  whenever  those  ideas 
and  fashions  militate  against  the  simplicity 
and  sincerity  of  their  allegiance  to  Christ.  It 
is  necessary  to  add  further  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  is  not  democratic,  but  theocratic.  The 
people  are  not  the  fountain  of  law  and  order. 
They  have  no  right  to  affirm  who  shall  be  the  head 
of  the  Church ;  that  is  settled  —  settled  forever. 
Nor  have  they  any  right  to  say  what  truths  shall 
be  taught,  and  what  doctrines  affirmed  ;    that  also 


THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH.  69 

is  settled  and  settled  forever.  The  Church  of 
Christ  is  a  witnessing  church.  '*  Ye  are  my  wit- 
nesses," saith  the  Lord.  ''  Thus  it  is  written  that 
the  Christ  should  suffer,  and»  rise  again  from  the 
dead  the  third  day ;  and  that  repentance  and  re- 
mission of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name 
unto  all  the  nations,  beginning  from  Jerusalem. 
And  ye  are  witnesses  of  these  things."  This  from 
St.  Luke.  And  again  in  the  beginning  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  :  ' '  But  ye  shall  receive 
power,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you, 
and  ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  both  in  Jerusalem 
and  in  all  Judea  and  Samaria  and  unto  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth." 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  not  charged  with  cre- 
ating or  inventing  anything.  It  has  to  be  the 
witness  to  the  facts  and  truths  revealed  concern- 
ins^  God  and  man  in  and  through  Jesus  Christ.  It 
is  charged  with  the  grand  and  glorious  responsi- 
bility of  taking  these  revealed  facts  and  truths  to 
all  who  bear  the  name  of  man,  from  one  end  of 
the  earth  to  the  other.  For  God  Almighty  never 
gives  a  man  a  truth  for  his  own  private  use. 
Every  revealed  truth  belongs  to  the  whole  hu- 
manity. Wherever  the  sun  shines  there  it  is 
God's  will  that  His  revealed  truth  should  shine. 
It  is  necessary  that  we  should  distinctly  recognize 
that  though  these  facts  and  truths  may  suggest 
views,  and  start  opinions  in  men's  minds,  yet  that 


70  THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH. 

those  views  and  opinions  are  not  the  foundation 
on  which  the  Church  is  built.  Otiier  foundation 
can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  Jesus  Christ. 
Endless  confusion  has  arisen  in  the  ecclesiastical 
world  from  a  non-recognition  of  the  distinction 
between  men's  views  and  opinions  on  the  facts  and 
truths  of  Holy  Writ,  and  the  facts  and  truths 
themselves.  However  many  sects  and  denomina- 
tions you  may  have,  there  is  but  one  Church  of 
Christ.  However  multitudinous  the  views  and 
opinions  of  men  on  religious  themes,  there  is  but 
*'  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and 
Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and 
in  you  all."  The  Church  derives  its  facts  and 
truths,  its  law  and  order  from  Christ,  not  from 
the  people  —  it  is  theocratic,  not  democratic. 

This  also  must  be  added,  that  the  church  is  the 
dwelling  place  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  which 
fact  is  evidence  by  these  fruits  of  the  Spirit 
Avhich  hang  thick  and  threefold  upon  it,  as  upon  a 
tree  of  life.  *'The  fruits  of  the  Spirit  are  love, 
joy,  peace,  long-suifering,  kindness,  goodness, 
faithfulness,  meekness,  temperance  (or  self-con- 
trol.)" These  abound  in  every  true  Christian 
Church. 

We  must  not  omit  to  add,  that  the  Church  is 
Christ's  great  Teacher  to  the  nations.  The  last 
great  command  to  the  Apostles  runs  thus:  ''Go 
ye  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations^  baptizing 


THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH.  71 

them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe 
all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you ;  and  lo, 
I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world."  If  the  Church  abdicates  this  position,  or 
does  not  recognize  it,  it  lives  outside  its  commis- 
sion and  opportunity.  I  venture  to  say  that  there 
is  no  other  power  adequate  to  educate  the  mind  of 
a  nation  or  a  man.  I  need  not  remind  you  how 
far  short  of  its  opportunity  and  commission  the 
Church  of  Christ  has  fallen,  when  we  take  into 
consideration  its  relation,  not  only  to  individuals, 
but  to  nations.  The  truth  of  the  Gospel  has  even 
been  so  used  as  to  promote  selfishness.  Many  a 
man  has  been  taught  that  the  beginning,  middle, 
and  end  of  Christianity  is  to  save  his  own  soul. 
Of  course  that  is  the  beginning  of  Christianity,  but 
it  is  not  the  middle  and  end.  When  once  a  man 
has  been  brought  into  right  relations  toward  God, 
by  the  acceptation  of  Jesus  Christ  as  his  Redeemer, 
Lord,  and  Master,  practicall}^  he  is  brought  into 
new  relations  towards  men.  He  begins  to  recog- 
nize that  he  owes  duties  to  the  family,  and  to  the 
nation.  He  begins  to  feel  the  misery  and  mean- 
ness of  a  life  which  lives  to  get  and  not  to  give. 
His  eyes  are  opened  to  see  that  this  is  the  kind  of 
life  most  antas^onistic  towards  the  life  of  God. 
The  parasite  on  the  tree  which  drains  away  its  life 
but  adds  nothing  to  the  life  of  the  tree,  is  the  fit 


73  THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH. 

symbol  of  the  man  who  gets  everything  out  of  the 
nation  he  lives  in,  and  gives  back  nothing  so  far 
as  his  own  will  and  purpose  is  set  to  do  it.  The 
Church's  commission  includes  the  teachership  of 
the  nation  in  all  highest  things  pertaining  to 
national  life. 

And  lastly,  the  church  is  the  beginning  of  that 
permanent  society  which  God  is  organizing  to 
embody  and  express  his  will.  The  Book  of  the 
Revelation  of  St  John  gives  intimations  of  a 
perfected  society  into  which  there  enters  nothing 
that  defileth,  neither  that  which  believeth  or 
maketh  a  lie,  a  society  of  the  pure  and  true,  or 
rather  of  those  who  are  purified  and  made  true,  men 
from  all  ages  and  all  nations,  all  kindreds  and  all 
tongues,  a  society  of  men  like  in  sympathy  and 
disposition  though  various  in  many  other  ways. 
The  Christ  of  God  is  the  centre  of  that  society  ; 
its  inspiration  ;  its  archetype  ;  a  society  based  on 
inward  character  not  on  anything  else,  the  inward 
character  being  attested  by  outward  allegiance  to 
this  Christ  of  God.  In  that  society  we  shall  get 
the  perfection  of  communion,  the  ideal  fellowship, 
all  lovelessness  gone,  no  envy  there,  no  hatred, 
nothing  that  leads  to  schism,  no  insincere  man 
there,  no  unbrotherly  man,  the  society  of  which 
the  church  on  earth  has  been,  in  its  best  estate, 
only  the  promise  and  prefiguration.  John  the 
Divine  saw  it  in  vision,  and  he  wrote  **  Behold  the 


THE  WITNESSING  CHURCH  73 

tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men  and  he  shall  dwell 
with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and  God 
Himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God. 
And  he  shall  wipe  away  every  tear  from  their 
eyes  ;  and  death  shall  be  no  more ;  neither  shall 
there  be  mourning,  nor  crying,  nor  pain  any  more  ; 
the  first  things  are  passed  away." 

*«  And  there  shall  be  no  curse  anymore;  and 
the  Throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be 
therein ;  and  his  servants  shall  do  him  service  ; 
and  they  shall  see  his  face,  and  his  name  shall  be 
in  their  foreheads.  And  there  shall  be  night  no 
more  ;  and  they  need  no  light  of  lamp,  nor  light 
of  the  Sun,  for  the  Lord  God  shall  give  them  light, 
and  they  shall  reign  forever  and  ever." 


YI. 
EETEIBUTION. 


Be  not  deceived;    God  is  not  mocked;     for  whatsoever  a  man 
soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap. —  GalatianSy  vi :  7. 

THE  fact  of  Retribution  is  necessarily  a  very 
serious  one  to  all  who  are  not  *'  past  feel- 
ing:." We  find  the  law  of  retribution  workins: 
here  in  our  life.  It  cannot  be  denied.  The  nat- 
ural inference  is  that  a  law  here  indicates  a 
similar  law  beyond  the  period  and  condition  we 
call  temporal.  Ostrich-like,  we  may  hide  our 
heads  in  the  sand  and  refuse  to  see  that  which  is 
disagreeable.  It  is  wiser  and  better  always  to 
face  facts,  never  to  ignore  them,  never  to  close 
our  eyes  to  them.  Interrogate  them.  Ask  them 
what  they  mean  and  what  they  have  to  teach. 
Let  us  take  what  we  do  know  and  let  it  lead  us  to 
inferences  consistent  with  it  as  to  that  which  we 
do  not  know.  Let  us  have  the  courage  resolutely 
to  stand  by  the  laws  and  facts  which  are  revealed. 
We  recognize  in  ourselves,  and  so  in  other  men, 
a  sense  of  a   righteousness   which   ought   to   be 

74 


RETRIBUTION,  75 

obeyed  and  maintained  ;  and  we  recognize  also  a 
condition  of  feeling,  mind,  will,  life,  that  is  not 
according  to  righteousness.  All  our  efforts  to 
make  righteousness  and  unrighteousness  the  same, 
or  the  one  a  modification  of  the  other,  are  failures. 
We  recognize  also  that  unrighteousness  brings 
penalty.  It  is  so  in  society,  although  society  may 
set  up  a  very  untrue  standard  of  right  and  wrong, 
artificial,  not  according  to  the  standard  which  God 
has  set  up  in  our  consciences  and  in  the  Christ. 
Yea,  material  rewards  may  come  to  men  who  are 
persistently  acting  on  principles  of  unrighteous- 
ness, acting  selfiishly,  i.  e.  in  an  ungodly  manner. 
Very  often  it  is  so.  This  brings  in  confusion  of 
mind.  It  creates  perplexity.  So  much  so  that 
many  men  are  led  by  it  to  the  illegitimate  infer- 
ence, that  verily  there  is  no  special  reward  for 
the  righteous,  verily  there  is  no  God  that  judgetli 
in  the  Earth.  And  as  material  rewards  are  the 
only  ones  that  men  of  perverted  minds  and  cor- 
rupted feelings  appreciate,  the  acting  so  as  to  get 
these  material  rewards  is  common.  Not  only  do 
industry  and  faithfulness  bring  these  material 
rewards,  but  oftentimes  dishonesty,  shrewdness, 
heartlessness  in  bargaining  and  in  taking  advan- 
tage of  men,  bring  them.  Gambling  brings 
them ;  gambling  in  many  forms.  Herein  is  the 
source  of  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  universal 
temptations  of  our  life.     A  man  does  not  seem  any 


76  RETRIBUTION. 

the  worse,  so  far  as  the  outside  appearances  of  his 
life  are  concerned,  because  of  transactions  that  are 
not  honorable  and  honest.  Oftentimes  he  seems 
better ;  he  has  acquired  wealth  and  seems  to  have 
acquired  importance. 

And  this  fact  alone  ought  to  be  enough  to  assure 
us  that  material  rewards  are  not  the  only  or  the 
chief  rewards  which  God  gives.  Man  looks  at 
the  outward  appearance,  God  looks  at  the  heart, 
at  that  which  is  inward.  Intellectual  shrewd- 
ness and  uuscrupulousness  often  bring  gold  to 
the  coifers,  but  they  never  bring  sensitiveness 
to  the  conscience,  nor  purity  into  the  feeling, 
nor  piety  into  the  heart.  Much  otherwise.  The 
man  who  has  educated  himself  into  that  state  in 
which  he  has  ceased  to  be  a  tender-hearted,  humane, 
brotherly  man ,  and  has  sunk  into  a  mere  trafficker, 
to  whom  there  is  only  one  hell,  to  be  poor,  and 
only  one  heaven,  to  be  rich,  that  man  is  not  to  be 
admired.  If  you  have  any  feeling  to  expend  on 
him,  let  it  be  pity,  although  even  that  will  by  no 
means  be  appreciated.  If  we  are  to  understand 
anything  about  Eetribution,  about  the  law  of 
rewards  and  punishments,  we  must  look  deeper 
than  the  outside,  into  the  heart  and  intellect  and 
conscience,  the  inward  condition. 

Righteousness  and  unrighteousness,  happiness 
and  misery,  are  not  expressible  in  terms  of  ma- 
terial gifts.     The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you. 


RETRIBUTION.  77 

saith  the  Lord ;  so  is  the  kingdom  of  the  Devil. 

Thus,  it  is  evident  that  in  considering  this  theme 
of  lietribution,  we  have  to  look  below  the  surface. 
We  have  to  school  ourselves  into  the  recognition 
that  a  man  is  rich  or  poor  really  not  according  to 
what  he  has  but  according  to  what  he  is. 

Every  one  knows  how  vigorous,  of  late  years, 
has  been  the  assault  upon  the  idea  of  a  material 
hell.  And  many  there  be  who  seem  to  have 
explored  the  Universe  and  have  not  found  it.  If 
they  would  explore  some  of  the  courts  and  alleys 
of  our  great  cities,  if  they  would  go  into  some  of 
the  dens  and  dungeons  which,  to  thousands  of 
people,  supply  the  only  place  they  can  call  home, 
if  they  would  acquaint  themselves  with  the  horrors 
of  society  in  some  of  their  most  terrific,  loathesome 
and  appalling  forms,  it  would  surely  dawn  upon 
them  that  there  was  a  use  even  yet  for  the  word 
**hell,"  even  in  its  material  expression.  I  am 
quite  ready  to  admit  that  nowhere  in  the  Universe 
can  3^ou  find  GocTs  Hell^  but  you  can  find  that 
which  man  has  made.  I  hope  that  none  of  us  may 
ever  find  that  which  was  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels.  Men  have  heen  determined,  I 
know,  to  make  the  idea  of  hell  ridiculous. 
Granted  that  the  materialism  is  only  imagery, 
taken  from  the  refuse  heaps  and  the  purifying  fires 
which  consumed  the  putrefying  carcases  of  the 
Judean  valleys,  yet  imagery  has  something  behind 


78  RETRIBUTION. 

it  which  it  bodies  forth.  The  whole  material  world 
is,  I  apprehend,  but  a  parable  of  the  spiritual 
world. 

You  know  how  valorously  men  have  contended 
against  the  continuousness  of  the  punishment  of  sin, 
but  every  man  who  sees  below  the  surface  of 
things  must  recognize  that  a  man  can  sooner  be 
divorced  from  his  shadow  than  punishment  can 
be  separated  from  sin.  Sin  is  self-willed  separa- 
tion from  God,  unrepentant  lawlessness  of  soul, 
and  as  long  as  sin  continues  the  punishment  which 
is  inherent  in  it,  the  punishment  which  comes  from 
the  indwelling  opposition  of  the  soul  to  God, 
whatever  it  be,  must  continue.  The  proof  that 
one  form  of  the  presentation  of  a  fact  cannot  be 
the  true  one,  is  no  argument  that  all  presentations 
of  it  are  untrue.  No  one  has  ever  yet  discovered 
a  way  to  make  a  hardened,  unrepenting  man 
righteous  or  happy,  so  long  as  he  continues 
in  that  condition. 

No  one  has  ever  yet  discovered  a  method  to 
prevent  the  working  of  the  law,  "whatsoever  a 
man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap."  No  man  has 
ever  discovered  where  there  is  an  element  of 
injustice  in  the  principle  on  which  judgment  turns, 
that  a  man  should  receive  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body  according  to  that  he  had  done,  whether  it 
be  good  or  bad. 

Nor  has  any  one  discovered  a  way  w^hereby  a 


RETRIBUTION.  79 

man  shall  still  be  a  man  and  yet  be  deprived  of  his 
power  of  choice,  so  as  to  be  made  righteous 
against  his  own  will  or  w^ish.  While  it  is 
altogether  unbecoming  of  us  to  dogmatize  on  the 
only  partially  revealed  future,  yet  we  must  not 
shrink  from  utterance  of  truth  and  fact  as  revealed 
in  us,  in  the  recognized  laws  of  our  nature, 
especially  when  they  are  clearly  corroborated  by 
the  teachings  of  Scripture.  The  soul  needs 
medicine  as  well  as  food. 

I  am  not  competent  fully  to  expound  all  our 
Lord's  words  on  retribution.  As  ftir  as  my  own 
preferences  are  concerned,  I  should  rather  always 
quote  them  in  their  literalness  and  let  them  stand 
unmodified  and  unaltered  by  anything  I  might  say. 
Thus  the  man  who  has  any  objection  to  urge, 
would  have  his  controversy  transferred  from  the 
servant  to  the  master. 

That  there  is,  on  the  part  of  some  of  us, 
preachers  and  hearers,  much  of  disgraceful  trifling 
with  these  utterances  on  retribution,  and  on  behalf 
of  others  much  equally  disgraceful  dogmatism,  I 
cannot  omit  to  notice.  But  there  are  some  facts 
which  w^e  cannot  but  recognize,  unless  we  wilfully 
blind  ourselves  to  their  existence,  such  facts  as 
that  everywhere  sin  brings  some  kind  of  misery, 
misery  physical  and  misery  mental.  This  and 
other  like  facts  are  as  patent  as  the  noon-day. 
We  recognize  that  there  is  a  destructive  power  in 


80  RETRIBUTION. 

this  world,  steadily  and  persistently  working. 
Oftentimes  men  seem  madly  bent  on  their  own  de- 
struction. Nothing  stops  them,  nothing  arrests 
them.  Judgment  seems  to  be  lost  and  reason  to 
be  dethroned.  All  badness  has  an  accompanying 
madness  concealed  in  it.  It  would  seem  as 
though  mankind  was  preyed  upon  by  some  power 
outside  itself,  bent  on  destroying  it.  Apart  from 
all  Scripture  revelation,  that  would  be  the  conclu- 
sion at  which  serious  students  of  the  problem 
would  arrive.  We  shrink  from  acknowledojin^?  an 
invisible  Satanic  personal  power,  operative  upon 
the  spirit  of  man,  and  yet  nothing  short  of  this  can 
account  for  that  terrible  tendency  to  self-destruc- 
tion, which  we  find  in  our  race.  The  New  Testa- 
ment acknowledges  this  power.  It  represents  its 
concentrated  malignity  as  focussing  itself  to  de- 
stroy this  Jesus  Christ  of  ours.  Our  Lord  says  of 
it,  ^it  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell ' 
and  He  tells  us  to  fear  it.  It  is  revealed  that 
Jesus  the  Christ  came  to  destroy  the  works  of 
the  devil.  There  are  some  who  jest  at  these 
ideas  ;  but  there  cannot  be  any  doubt  of  their  ex- 
istence on  the  New  Testament  page.  That  which 
our  Lord  has  revealed,  accounts  for  so  much  which 
we  recognize  in  our  human  life  that  it  seems  to  me 
to  offer  a  solution  of  a  very  dark  problem. 

Perhaps  some  one  is  saying  within  himself, — 
what  a  terrible  thing  it  is  to  be  born  exposed  to 


RETRIBUTION.  81 

such  a  power  !  It  would  be  if  it  were  an  Omnipo- 
tent power,  or  a  power  which  we  could  not  resist, 
a  power  from  w^hich  we  could  get  no  deliverence. 
But  man  is  not  left  in  this  wretched  and  helpless 
state.  The  Deliverer  is  revealed ;  the  One  who 
comes  between  him  and  it  to  rescue  all  who  put 
themselves  under  His  protection.  I  cannot  delay 
to  remind  you  of  that  fact.  At  this  point  a  ques- 
tion leaps  into  form  —  can  the  human  lose  its 
character  as  human  and  actually  become  devilish  ? 
The  three  stages  of  sinfulness  as  set  forth  by  the 
Apostle,  are  these,  '  earthly,  sensual,  devilish!* 
And  we  ourselves,  in  our  common  speech,  recog- 
nize these  three  grades. 

There  are  some  things  which  men  do  which 
cannot  properly  be  characterized  as  either  <  earthly' 
or  '  sensual ' ;  we  are  driven  to  the  use  of  the  third 
term  because  neither  of  the  others  is  felt  to  be 
accurate.  When  we  consider  such  cases  as  I 
could  name,  such  cases  as  will  occur  to  you  all, 
they  compel  us  to  face  the  question  :  ''Is  it  possible 
that  there  can  be  such  an  inversion  of  human 
nature  that  good  should  always  appear  evil  and 
evil  good?"  Is  it  possible  for  men  to  be  perma- 
nently fixed  in  a  spiritual  condition  in  which 
malice,  envy,  and  hate  banish  all  possibility  of 
love,  esteem  and  affection?  For  myself  I  don't 
know ;  I  cannot  answer  these  questions.  They 
have   to  be  faced.     Till  they  are  answered,   we 


83  RETRIBUTION. 

cannot  affirm,  as  of  clear  knowledge,  the  terniin- 
ableness  of  sin  or  the  terminableness  of  its  inherent 
and  inevitable  punishment  of  itself  beyond  that 
point  in  life  we  call  death.  Every  man  who  speaks 
on  this  theme  should  first  pray  God  to  give  him 
humility  and  to  take  from  him  the  cantankerous 
spirit  of  the  controversialist.  I  am  sincere  when 
I  say  that  I  do  not  wish  to  speak  as  an  opponent 
of  any  sectarian  of  any  kind.  If  any  brother  man 
has  had  a  revelation  from  God,  either  through 
Scripture,  or  independently  of  it,  which  has 
assured  his  mind  that  '  *  not  one  life  shall  be 
destroyed,  nor  perish  in  the  formless  void,  when 
God  hath  made  the  pile  complete, "  he  is  of  all 
men  to  be  envied.  No  such  revelation  has  come 
to  my  own  mind  from  any  source.  While  no  one 
present  can  shrink  from  the  unfeeling  dogmatist 
on  this  question  of  the  future  of  the  man  who  calls 
evil  good  and  good  evil,  more  than  I  do,  yet  if  I 
were  to  affirm  that  I  had  met  with  a  full  revelation 
of  the  final  rescue  of  every  soul  of  man  from  sin  and 
its  consequences,  I  should  put  on  record  in  the 
most  solemn  act  of  my  life  a  dreadful  falsehood. 
This  is  not  a  matter  of  one  man's  opinion  or 
another's  ;  it  is  a  matter  of  revelation. 

I  admit  that  it  seems  certain  that  all  revelation 
on  all  themes  which  concern  man  and  the  possibili- 
ties of  his  nature,  may  not  belong  to  this  world, 
cannot  belong  to  it.     A  fuller  revelation  doubtless 


RETRIBUTION.  83 

will  greet  us  on  the  other  shore,  for  we  have  only 
the  beginning  of  things  here.  The  unfolding  will 
go  on  forever  and  ever.  This  is  only  according 
to  the  laws  we  reco£rnize  as  existinsr  for  our  minds 
now.  That  condition  of  mind  in  which  men  de- 
mand that  everything  be  revealed  to  them,  here 
and  now,  about  the  future  of  all  who  constitute 
this  human  race,  or  they  will  have  nothing  to  do 
with  God  and  religion,  seems,  I  should  think,  to 
us  all,  about  as  proud,  tyrannical,  wilful  and  un- 
reasonable a  state  as  any  man  can  be  in.  There  is 
really  nothing  to  be  done  with  a  man  in  that  con- 
dition, except  to  let  him  alone.  Such  a  state  is 
at  the  very  antipodes  of  all  teachableness.  It  is  a 
compound  of  ignorance  and  wilfulness.  A  man 
says  to  me,  'I  can't  believe  in  a  God  who  delights 
in  damning  men.'  Nor  can  I.  There  is  no  such 
God  revealed  in  the  New  Testament,  from  the  lips 
of  Jesus  or  his  Apostles.  ''  I  have  no  pleasure  in 
the  death  of  the  wicked,  but  i'ather  that  the 
wicked  should  turn  and  live."  We  damn  our- 
selves, we  damn  one  another,  we  unite  wdth  that 
Satanic  power  whose  delight  is  rebellion  against 
God.  We  worship  the  devil  rather  than  God, — 
we  do  all  this  and  thus  destroy  ourselves  and  our 
fellow-creatures,  but  the  God  revealed  in  Jesus 
Christ  is  in  eternal  antagonism  to  all  this.  There 
is  no  sin  in  God  ;  God  is  light  and  in  Him  is  no 
darkness  at  all ;    God  is  love,  in  him  is  no  hate  to 


84  nETUIBUriON. 

you  or  me  or  anyone.  That  which  is  not  in  the 
Divine  Nature  can  never  come  forth  from  it. 
Nothing  is  more  simple  and  incontrovertible  than 
that.  We  want  clearly  to  understand,  in  these 
days,  that  there  is  ever  a  distinction  to  be  made 
between  the  revelations  which  have  come  to  us  in 
Jesus  Christ  and  the  inferences  which  men  have 
drawn  from  them.  We  must  take  good  heed 
never  to  be  so  w^edded  to  our  own  views  and 
opinions,  simply  because  they  are  ours,  as  not  to 
be  willing  and  ready  to  be  led  by  the  action  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  on  our  spirits  into  higher  perceptions 
of  truth.  If  we  get  into  that  state  we  shall  be  as 
a  man  who  should  put  iron  shutters  up  to  every 
w^indow  in  his  house  so  that  the  sunlight  should 
not  interfere  with  his  enjoyment  of  the  light  of  his 
own  candles.  There  is  nothing  more  fatal  to  men- 
tal growth  and  to  growth  in  grace,  than  proud, 
self-willed  opinionativeness.  The  sincere  mind  is 
an  open  mind  ;  the  truthful  mind  is  open  —  not 
a  vacillating  one  —  far  from  that.  It  holds 
what  it  has,  but  it  reaches  forth  to  that  which  is 
beyond.  A  man  without  principles  and  convic- 
tions is  the  prey  of  the  next  evil  man  or  evil  spirit 
that  assaults  him.  God  has  more  light  and  truth 
to  break  forth  from  His  Holy  Word,  but  from  that 
Holy  Word,  Jesus  Christ  has  broken  forth  this 
light  and  this  truth  already,  that  union  with  Him 
is  life,  separation  from  Him  is  death,  whatever  be 


RETRIBUTION.  85 

included  in  that  word.  It  will  be  proved  yet  to 
demonstration  that  whoever  is  of  the  truth^ear- 
eth  Christ's  voice  ;  that  no  true  man  ever  yet  took 
sides  against  God's  Christ  when  that  Christ  was 
fully  and  fairly  presented  to  his  heart  and  under- 
standing. And  this  also  I  believe  will  be  shown, 
that  there  has  never  been  any  decree  of  God's 
which  has  condemned  men  to  sin  and  suffer. 

The  sin  and  suffering  are  our  own,  the  rescue 
and  deliverance  are  God's.  Separated  from  Him 
in  whom  the  father  of  our  spirits  is  revealed,  we 
become  a  prey  to  evil  spirits  in  the  flesh  and  evil 
spirits  out  of  the  flesh.  Not  to  be  afraid  of  sin 
and  sinners,  and  the  arch-sinner  of  all  we  call 
Satan  and  the  Devil,  and  to  be  afraid  of  God,  the 
God  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ,  this  of  all  things 
betokens  the  extent  of  our  removal  from  the 
orio^inal  ri«:hteousness.  What  can  be  more 
frightful  to  a  human  soul  than  the  loss  of  God  ? 
The  word  Atheism  itself  is  a  bottomless  pit.  '*  I 
will  not  leave  you  orphans,"  said  our  Lord  to  his 
disciples  ;  fatherless  ones.  Oh  no,  He  would  not 
leave  us  in  doubt  that  over  us  at  all  times,  and  in 
us  by  the  gift  of  His  spirit  at  all  times  was  a 
Father,  the  Father  of  such  a  Son,  the  Father  of 
Jesus  Christ;  is  not  that  enough?  What  more 
dreadful  mission  is  conceivable  for  a  lost  soul  than 
to  go  about  the  world  to  try  to  rob  other  souls  of 
their  hope  in  a  Father  in   heaven  ?     Who   of  us 


86  RETBIBUriON. 

would  not  prefer  annihilation  to  this  dreadful 
mission  ?  And  yet  no  man  would  or  could  believe 
it,  but  he  who  had  so  sinned  himself  into 
wretchedness  as  to  want  to  believe  it.  And  even 
he  would  doubt  his  own  belief.  Let  us  never 
lose  sight  of  this  fact  that  union  with  God  in 
Christ  is  heaven,  for  the  soul  of  man  was  made  for 
that;  separation  from  God  in  Christ  is  hell,  the 
soul  of  man  was  never  made  for  that.  Whatever 
brings  us  nearer  to  God  brings  us  into  the  sphere 
of  ineffable  reward,  such  as  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor 
ear  heard,  neither  hath  entered  into  the  heart  of 
man  to  conceive  ;  whatever  separates  us  from  Him 
brings  us  into  that  sphere  of  retribution  into  which 
we  cannot  look  ftir,  where  the  selfish  and  the 
loveless  find  those  of  their  own  order  and  kind. 
They  go  there,  God  does  not  send  them  ;  such  is 
the  revelation.  There  is  no  change  in  God,  none 
in  Christ.  *'  He  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and 
for  ever."  While  I  am  persuaded  that  no  man 
living  is  able  fully  to  interpret  the  whole  of  this 
theme,  yet  I  think  we  can  say  this  much  with 
confidence : — 

1 .  That  the  Eternal  One  can  make  no  compro- 
mise with  sin.  "  If  God  were  not  sure  to  punish 
the  evil,  and  to  make  it  bear,  so  far  as  it  remains 
evil,  the  weight  of  his  Condemnation,  the  good 
would  lose  for  us  its  reality." 

2.  As  to   duration,    that   as   long  as   the    sin 


RETRIBUTION.  87 

lasts,  so  long  will  its  appropriate  punishment  last. 

3.  That  no  punishment  will  be  inflicted  which 
will  throw  the  Divine  Character  as  revealed  in 
Christ  into  discord  with  itself. 

4.  That,  as  there  is  no  malice  in  the  Divine 
nature  and  no  cruelty,  all  punishment  will  have  as 
its  purpose  an  end  worthy  of  the  divine  nature. 

5.  That  future  punishment  will  be  to  present 
sin  as  consequence  to  cause. 

6.  That  it  will  be  inevitable  and  not  arbitrary. 

7.  That  it  will  be  of  such  a  nature,  that  no 
enlightened  mind  in  the  Universe  of  God  can  offer 
any  objection  to  it  that  shall  not  be  unreasonable. 

Ought  I  not  to  add  for  every  perplexed  soul  on 
this  and  all  other  vital  themes,  "Come  unto  me 
all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden  and  ye  shall 
find  rest  unto  your  souls." 


YII. 
MEANS  AND  END. 


And  why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I 
say  ? — Luke,  vi :  46. 

ON  February  20th,  1844,  in  the  Supreme 
Court  at  Washington,  a  great  speech  was 
made  by  a  man  who  must  ever  be  allowed  the 
first  rank  among  the  statesmen  and  orators  of 
America.  The  speech  is  remarkable  not  alone  for 
the  purity  of  its  English,  not  alone  for  the  manli- 
ness of  its  style,  for  these  remarks  apply  to  all  the 
speeches  of  this  great  man.  It  is  noteworthy  for 
the  passionateness  and  evident  genuineness  of  the 
sympathy  which  the  speaker  manifests  with  the 
truths  and  facts  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  with 
the  means  which  are  used  and  which  are  inevitable 
for  its  propagation. 

A  sum  of  money  had  been  bequeathed  to  found 
a  college  in  Philadelphia  from  wdthin  whose  walls 
all  Christian  ministers  were  to  be  excluded. 
Daniel  Webster  argued  that  this  exclusion  virtu- 
ally amounted  to  the  ostracism  of  Christianity 
itself,  and  that  it  followed  that  in  no  true  legal 


MEANS  AND  END.  89 

sense  could  this  college  take  rank  as  a  charity. 
The  speech  is  memorable  as  embracing  the  views 
of  the  most  statesmanlike  mind,  the  most  robust 
nature,  this  country  has  ever  produced,  on  this  one 
point,  the  relation  of  the  means  to  the  end,  and  the 
inevitable  inference  that  must  be  drawn  in  regard 
to  their  judgment  of  the  value  of  the  end  by  those 
who  neglect  the  means  employed  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  it.  The  end  in  view  is  the  diffusion 
of  Christianity  among  the  people.  The  means 
used  are;  1,  the  establishment  by  our  Lord  him- 
self of  the  Ministry  ;  2,  the  bringing  into  existence 
of  the  Church;  3,  the  compilation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  4,  the  ordinance  of  the  Sabbath.  This 
statesman,  jurist,  orator,  this  man  of  the  first 
rank  in  each  department,  contends  that  so  long  as 
we  treat  the  means  that  are  inevitable  for  the  dif- 
fusion of  Christianity  w^ith  contempt,  it  is  vain  and 
frivolous  to  be  talking  of  any  respect  we  may  have 
for  Christianity  itself.  Our  actions  give  the  lie 
to  our  words. 

"There  is  a  positive  rejection  of  Christianity; 
because  it  rejects  the  ordinary  means  and  agencies 
of  Christianity.  He  w^ho  rejects  the  ordinary 
means  of  accomplishing  an  end  means  to  defeat 
that  end  itself,  or  else  he  has  no  meaning.  And 
this  is  true,  although  the  means  originally  be 
means  of  human  appointment,  and  not  attaching 
to  or  resting  on  any  higher  authority." 


90  MEANS  AND  END. 

Webster  contends  that  there  is  nothinor  in  the 
New  Testament  more  clearly  established  by  the 
Author  of  Christianity  than  the  appointment  of  a 
Christian  ministry.  He  asks,  "Did  a  man  ever 
live  that  had  a  respect  for  the  Christian  religion 
and  yet  had  no  regard  for  any  one  of  its 
ministers?" 

He  contends  further  that  religion  is  **  the  only 
solid  basis  of  morals,"  and  that  moral  instruction 
not  resting  on  this  basis  is  only  a  building  upon 
sand.  He  contends  that  the  moral  law  of  the  ten 
commandments  includes  the  whole  ten  in  its  idea 
of  morality.  He  suggests  that  the  man  who  moves 
away  the  foundation  of  morals  is  aiming  at  the 
destruction  of  morality  as  well  as  Christianity.  He 
further  contends  that  Christianity  is  of  such  a 
nature  that  it  l>e]ongs  as  really  to  children  as  to 
adults,  and  that  there  is  neither  religion,  nor 
morals,  nor  reason  in  any  course  of  action  which 
sets  aside  the  means  that  have  been  verified  as 
necessary  to  the  diffusion  of  that  truth  which  is 
included  in  the  word  *  Christianity.' 

He  further  remarks  that  ''  the  observance  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath  is  a  part  of  Christianty  in  all  its 
forms;"  that  ''where  there  is  no  observance  of 
the  Christian  Sabbath  there  ^vill  be  no  public 
worship  of  God,"  and  he  quotes  with  cordial 
approval  and  hearty  endorsement  an  address  which 


MEAN8  AND  END.  91 

had  just  been  delivered,  in  which  are  these 
words  : —  "  you  might  as  well  put  out  the  sun  and 
think  to  enlighten  the  world  with  tapers,  destroy 
the  attraction  of  gravity  and  think  to  wield  the 
Universe  by  human  powers,  as  to  extinguish  the 
moral  illumination  of  the  Sabbath  and  break  this 
glorious  main-spring  of  the  moral  government  of 
God."  And  when,  with  his  strong  manly 
eloquence,  and  his  clear  great  intellect,  he  has 
examined  the  argument  brought  on  the  other  side 
for  allowing  Girard  College  to  be  accepted  as  a 
charity,  although  from  six  years  old  to  eighteen 
the  youth  there  are  to  have  no  religious  instruc- 
tion, the  orator  seems  to  grow  impatient  with 
himself  at  the  development  of  his  argument,  and 
lets  himself  out  in  one  passionate  sentence  as  he 
realizes  what  is  involved  in  depriving  these  youths 
of  their  rights,  and  adds  :  * «  Why  Sir,  it  is  vain  to 
talk  about  the  destructive  tendency  of  such  a 
system ;  to  argue  upon  it  is  to  insult  the 
understanding  of  every  man  ;  it  is  mere,  sheer, 
low,  ribald,  vulgar  deism,  and  infidelity." 

Now  I  have  made  this  copious  reference  to  one 
of  the  most  powerful  orations  that  ever  Webster 
made,  because  it  contains  the  deliberate  judgment 
of  the  greatest  New  Englander,  the  one  who  will 
be  remembered  and  read  and  quoted,  in  the  gen- 
erations to  come,  oftener  than  any  other,  that  I 
may  have   the   best   backing  I   can  get   for  the 


93  MEANS  AND  END. 

enforcemeut  upon  your  attention  of  the  principle, 
that  he  who  neglects  the  means  conspires  to  defeat 
the  end.  One  of  the  most  unpromising  features 
of  our  time  is  the  seeming  inabilit}''  of  so  many 
people  to  perceive  this  very  thing,  the  connection 
of  means  and  end.  Neglect  the  means  and  you 
are  doing  your  best  to  defeat  the  end.  I  will  not 
venture  upon  giving  my  opinion  as  to  the  causes 
of  the  condition  in  which  so  many  find  themselves, 
of  having  a  sort  of  decent  respect  for  some  indefi- 
nite type  of  Christianity  and  yet  to  them  Chris- 
tianity is  not  necessary  to  morality,  not  necessary 
to  good  government,  not  necessary  to  citizenship, 
not  necessary  to  personal  development,  not 
necessary  to  character,  not  necessary  to  anything. 
On  its  practical  side,  Christianity  is  bound  up 
with  the  Sabbath,  with  the  Church,  with  the 
Scriptures,  with  the  Ministry  of  the  Gospel. 
Through  these,  it  gets  voice,  body  and  form. 
Without  them  it  is  a  disembodied  spirit.  These 
are  to  it,  what  the  lungs  and  limbs  and  nerves  and 
veins  and  arteries  are  to  the  body.  In  this  mate- 
rial world  the  spirit  in  man  operates  through 
these.  There  is  no  influence  of  the  Spirit  in  man 
on  this  present  order  of  things  apart  from  these. 

I  am  aware  that  there  are  very  many  persons 
over  whom  the  irresistible  reasoning  of  this  most 
Titanic  of  Americans  whom  I  have  quoted,  would 
have  no  influence.     They  have  listened  to  tell-tale 


MEAN8  AND  END.  93 

Eumor  which  is  always  busy,  and  have  heard  this 
and  that  about  him  which,  if  true,  indicates  that 
he  was  by  no  means  a  perfect  man.  This  is  not  a 
lecture  on  Webster.  This  is  not  the  time  nor 
the  place  to  search  into  these  reports.  But  this  I 
will  say,  that  I  am  ashamed  for  our  intelligence  ; 
I  am  ashamed  for  our  honesty  ;  I  am  ashamed  for 
our  candor,  I  am  ashamed  for  our  Christianity,  if 
we  can  allow  a  few  beldame  stories,  such  as  are 
invented  against  all  great  men,  to  obscure  our 
vision  as  to  the  real  greatness  of  mind  and  heart, 
which  dwelt  in  that  imposing  form. 

The  fruit  of  a  choice  apple  tree  is  none  the  less 
luscious  because  for  one  month  of  the  Spring  time 
the  canker-worm  disfigured  many  of  the  leaves. 
I  wish  that  with  as  much  of  truth  we  could  all  say 
as  he  said  : — 

*«I  thank  God,  that  if  I  am  gifted  with  little  of 
that  spirit  which  is  able  to  raise  mortals  to  the 
skies,  I  have  yet  none,  as  I  trust,  of  that  other 
spirit  which  would  drag  angels  down." 

It  is  no  answer  to  the  principle  here  asserted  by 
this  great  man,  the  principle  that  the  man  who 
neglects  the  means  aims  to  defeat  the  end,  that 
sometimes  the  orator  was  not  himself  quite  correct 
in  his  conduct.  Who  is  ?  Which  of  us  can  stand 
up  in  that  presence  which  searches  the  heart,  and 
say  that  we  have  always  been  correct  in  our  con- 
duct?   But  does  that  make  Christianity  untrue  ? 


94  MEANS  AND  END. 

Nay,  it  verifies  its  truth,  when  it  says  <  that  there 
is  not  a  just  man  upon  earth  that  doeth  good  and 
sinneth  not.'  The  inconsistencies  of  Christians 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  truth  of  Christianity, 
or  rather  Christianity  has  nothing  to  do  with  them. 
It  is  not  accountable  for  them.  If  we  are  to  wait 
for  perfect  specimens  of  Christianity  before  there 
is  any  utterance  of  it,  or  any  teaching  of  it,  total 
sihmce  must  forever  reign.  Some  knowledge  is 
necessary  to  utterance  but  not  perfect  knowledge. 
Some  experience  of  Christianity  is  necessary  to 
the  appreciation  of  its  greatness,  its  grandeur,  its 
benevolence,  but  not  perfection  of  experience. 
Our  preaching  of  it  may  often  be,  as  Sheridan 
once  remarked,  *'a  poulterer's  description  of  a 
phoenix,"  still  any  preaching  of  Christ  and  Him 
crucified  is  better  than  none,  as  St.  Paul  suggested 
when  some  were  vile  enough  to  preach  Christ  out 
of  envy  and  strife,  only  to  cause  the  Apostle 
pain,  *' Notwithstanding,  w^iether  in  pretence  or 
in  truth,  Christ  is  preached,  and  therein  will  I 
rejoice." 

I  wish  that  in  these  days  Webster's  great  speech 
could  be  printed  as  a  religious  tract  to  be  distribu- 
ted broad-cast  among  people  who  credit  themselves 
with  intelli2:ence.  Do  we  not  need  it?  Are  there 
not  many  who  assume  that  they  are,  in  some  sort 
of  way,  and  in  some  sense  of  the  word  *  Christians' 
and  yet  who  do  not  study  the  Scriptures,  and  do 


MEANS  AND  END.  95 

not  use  the  means  of  grace ,  and  have  no  reverence 
for  the  Sabbath,  and  seldom  put  themselves  under 
the  influence  of  any  ministry  of  the  Gospel  ?  Such 
persons  would  feel  aggrieved  if  it  were  said  to  them 
that  they  were  seeking  to  defeat  those  ends  which 
to  Jesus  Christ  wxre  so  momentous  that  he  held 
not  himself  back  from  agony  and  death  that  He 
might  accomplish  them.  Yet,  if  these  arguments 
of  this  greatest  of  Americans  are  unanswerable,  it 
is  true.  No  man  is  promoting  the  ends  which  our 
Lord  came  to  accomplish,  who  is  neglecting  the 
Church,  the  Scriptures,  the  Ministry  or  the 
Sabbath.  I  wish  to  be  reasonable.  I  would  not 
press  a  man  so  hard  as  to  create  antagonism  in  his 
mind  towards  the  truth.  But,  I  think  that 
none  of  you,  I  Jiope  that  none  of  you,  would 
care  to  listen  to  any  Minister  who  does  not  regard 
his  allegiance  to  Christ  as  the  first  thing.  There 
is  no  man  whom  1  should  myself  more  despise  than 
he  who  standing  in  a  Christian  pulpit  would  say  the 
thing  which  would  make  him  popular,  regardless 
of  whether  he  believed  it  to  be  true  or  not.  We 
have  been  hearing  of  late  very  much  about  the  Old 
and  the  New.  For  myself  I  am  not  interested,  as 
to  whether  a  thing  be  old  or  new,  I  want  to  know 
if  it  be  true.  Is  it  in  accord  with  the  mind  of 
Christ  and  the  will  of  God?  And  this  principle 
which  the  foremost  statesman  of  New  England  has 
brought   into   the   happiest   form   of    expression, 


96  MEANS  AND  END. 

appears  to  me  to  be  true.  In  neglecting  the 
means  we  are  aiming  to  defeat  the  end.  Men  who 
are  not  intelligently  observing  the  Sabbath,  elevat- 
ing it  in  its  uses  above  other  days,  are  co-operating 
to  defeat  the  ends  for  which  the  Sabbath  was 
ordained.  In  not  systematically  and  diligently 
using  the  means  of  grace,  we  are  co-operating  to 
defeat  the  end  for  which  the  means  of  grace  were 
ordained  —  the  spiritualization  of  the  charac- 
ter. If  we  are  at  heart  Christians  and  are 
not  confessedly  of  the  Church,  w^e  are  silently 
(perhaps  unintentionally  and  unconsciously),  but 
really,  aiming  to  defeat  the  end  for  which  the 
Church  of  Christ  was  called  into  existence.  What 
is  lawful  for  one  Christian  must  surely  be  lawful 
for  all.  Anyway,  there  must  be  something  very 
special  in  the  case  of  a  Christian  heart  to  justify 
its  position  of  aloofness  from  a  Christian  church. 
I  know  that  all  Christian  churches,  in  their 
administration,  partake  of  human  infirmitiy.  But 
wherever  there  is  the  simple  acknowledgment  of 
Christ  as  supreme,  the  presence  of  human  infirmi- 
ty is  reduced  to  a  minimum  of  influence.  There 
is  however  a  blessing  special  to  the  church,  a 
blessing  of  God  which  belongs  to  his  disciples,  and 
can  belong  in  the  nature  of  things  to  none  other. 
Obedience  always  brings  blessedness. 

Is  it  not  so  in  Nature?     The  mariner  never 
thinks  of  entering  into  conflict  with  the  laws  of 


MEANS  AND  END.  97 

nature ;  he  conforms  to  them,  he  obeys  them. 
There  is  a  blessing  in  obedience.  There  is 
destruction  in  disobedience.  And  so  on  land  as 
on  sea ; — the  farmer's  prosperity  depends  upon 
his  understanding  the  laws  of  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal life  and  co-operating  with  those  laws.  There 
is  a  blessing  in  obedience  which  can  be  obtained  in 
no  other  way.  It  is  so  everywhere;  in  regard 
to  our  own  personality  ;  in  regard  to  mental  health 
and  bodily  health.  Obey  sanitary  laws  and  you 
get  the  blessing,  disobey  them  and  you  miss  it. 
Now,  it  would  be  a  strange  inconsistency,  if  the 
Almighty  should  teach  us  of  the  way  of  obtaining 
a  blessing  in  Nature,  and  contradict  that  truth  in 
the  highest  region  of  all.  Would  it  not  be  aston- 
ishin«r  if  obedience  to  material  laws  brouo;ht 
blessing,  and  disobedience  to  spiritual  laws  did 
not  bring  the  opposite  of  blessing  ?  If  our  Lord 
says  to  us,  Do  so  and  so,  rely  upon  it  that  there  is 
some  benevolent  reason  why  we  should  do  it.  All 
Divine  commands  are  founded  in  benevolence. 
All  Divine  institutions  are  founded  in  benevo- 
lence. That  is  true  of  the  Church  ;  it  is  true  of  the 
Sabbath ;  it  is  true  of  the  Scriptures  ;  it  is  true  of 
the  Ministry ;  of  all  these  four  things  to  which 
Webster  referred  as  means  to  the  end  of  diffusing 
Christianity.  No  man  of  you  is  more  sensitive 
than  I  am  to  the  unchristian  elements  wdiich  have 
been  introduced  by  fallen  and  fallible  men  into 


98  MEANS  AND  END. 

church  life.  So  oppressive  have  they  been  at 
times  to  my  spirit,  so  hateful  have  they  seemed, 
so  hot  has  been  my  aversion  to  them,  that  I  have 
had  fight  after  fight  with  myself  to  keep  in  the 
Ministry.  I  believe  in  Christianity  with  all  my 
intellect  and  with  all  my  heart.  Nothing  is  so 
dear  to  me  as  Christian  truth.  It  grows  upon  me 
all  the  time.  The  more  I  look  into  the  New  Test- 
ament the  more  I  believe  in  its  inspiration.  It  is 
incalculably  nobler  in  its  temper,  immeasurably 
higher  in  its  spirituality  than  anything  I  find  else- 
where. Men  wrote  it,  but  it  is  free  from  the 
weaknesses,  the  meannesses,  the  jealousies,  the  sec- 
tarianisms of  men.  God  ruled  while  men  wrote, 
that  is  what  I  mean  by  inspiration.  God's  mind 
dominated  man's.  God's  mind  was  uppermost 
and  man's  undermost.  God's  thought  dominated 
man's  opinion  and  held  it  in  subjection.  The  men 
who  wrote  were  so  full  of  God  that  they  could  do 
no  other  than  write  his  thoughts.  It  is  like  as 
when  a  lawyer  has  been  living  day  and  night  in 
Blackstone.  He  becomes  so  dominated  by  him 
that  his  own  thought  is  permeated  by  Blackstone. 
Or,  as  when  a  surgeon  has  been  submitting  him- 
self to  the  influence  and  teaching  of  Sir  Astley 
Cooper,  he  is  controlled  by  him.  These  men  were 
what  Schleirmacher  would  call,  *'  God-intoxicated 
men."  They  were  filled  full  of  Christ  and  so 
spake  the   Divine   thought.     They  could   do   no 


\B  R  A  R  y? 

or  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


MEANS  AND  END.  99 

other.  They  spake  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisi- 
ble, and  they  acted  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible. 
And  so,  you  have  only  to  take  any  volume  of 
Divinity  written  by  man,  any  church  articles  for- 
mulated by  man,  and  compare  them  with  the 
spirit  and  temper  of  the  Scriptures  to  see  the 
incomparableness  of  the  Scriptures.  They  are 
for  all  time,  and  not  for  any  single  age. 

And  here  in  these  Scriptures  we  find  Christ's 
idea  of  the  Church,  and  the  Apostolic  idea.  We 
do  not  realize  them.  The  Scripture  idea  of  the 
Church  is  entirely  free  from  all  such  divisions  as 
we  have  in  denominationalism.  The  Church  of 
the  New  Testament  is  the  fraternity  of  all  who  love 
and  serve  Christ.  If  a  man  will  not  submit  his 
will  and  spirit  to  Christ,  he  does  not  belong  to  the 
Church,  if  he  does  submit  his  will  and  spirit  to 
Christ  he  belongs  to  the  church.  But,  in 
Scripture,  faith  always  means  character,  internal 
character,  the  internal  character  which  recognizes 
Jesus  when  it  sees  Him  and  clings  to  Him.  It  is 
nothing  less  than  a  perversion  of  Scripture  to 
identify  faith  with  opinion.  Now,  while  we  are 
living  below  the  Scripture  idea  of  the  church  of 
Christ,  yet  we  are  aiming  at  it  and  trying  to 
realize  it,  and  under  this  constant  aim,  the  Church 
will  grow  more  and  more  Christlike  in  its  spirit. 
And  it  is  the  duty  of  all  who  are  Christian  in  hope 
and  in  heart  to  unite  with  it  openly  and  unabashed. 


100  MEANS  AND  END. 

Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord  and  do  not  the  thing 
which  I  say?  Church  membership  is  not  a  matter  of 
personal  perfection  or  imperfection.  It  is  a  matter 
of  obedience  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  am  obliwd 
to  put  it  on  that  simple  ground.  I  should  not  be 
truthful  to  my  own  convictions  if  I  put  it  on  any 
other.  It  is  a  means  of  grace,  if  we  use  the  means, 
we  are  manifestly  aiming  at  the  end. 

And  then  again  as  to  the  Sabbath  —  another 
means  for  the  diffusion  of  Christianity.  It  is 
founded  in  benevolence.  I  could  not  believe  in  a 
God  who  made  it  necessary  for  five-sixths  of  this 
human  race  to  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
the  brow,  or  the  sweat  of  the  brain,  if  he  let  them 
work  on  and  on  without  any  authoritative  command 
periodically  to  stop.  That  would  indicate  him  a 
slave-master,  not  a  God.  Three-hundred  and 
sixty-five  days  in  every  year  devoted  to  unbroken 
toil,  who  could  believe  that  such  a  command  ever 
came  from  a  good  God  ?  Not  that  I  believe  that 
hand  work  is  in  these  days  of  ours  the  most  ex- 
hausting work.  No! — brain- work,  continued  on 
and  on,  is  the  wear  and  tear  of  life.  The  brain- 
workers  more  than  the  hand-workers  need  to  stop 
every  seventh  day,  and  shut  down  business  and 
bolt  and  bar  the  door  on  it,  and  turn  their  atten- 
tion to  something  entirely  different.  For  relief 
comes  to  the  brain,  not  from  total  cessation  of 
thinking,  that  is  impossible,  but  from  other  think- 


MEANS  AND  END.  101 

ing.  And  the  more  entirely  different  the  theme 
the  more  recuperative  it  is.  That  is  the  reason 
why  some  of  our  greatest  English  statesmen,  yes 
and  our  greatest  American  lawyers,  have  been 
among  the  healthiest  and  strongest  minds.  Glad- 
stone can  sit  and  listen  to  a  sermon  with  as  much 
enjoyment  of  it  as  though  it  was  a  revelation  to 
him.  A  late  Lord  Chancellor,  who  presided  over 
the  House  of  Peers,  taught  a  Sunday  School  class. 
The  great  pleader  at  the  American  bar,  Choate, 
could  continuously  and  untiringly  enjoy  the  simple 
evangelical  ministry  of  Dr.  Adams.  Webster  was  a 
constant  attendant  on  worship.  These  men  used 
the  means  as  seeing  that  the  only  way  to  accom- 
plish the  end  was  to  use  them.  How  is  it  possible 
to  believe  that  any  one  sees  the  momentousness  of 
Christianity  and  its  relation  to  our  life  here  and 
hereafter  if  he  neglect  the  means  appointed  for  its 
propagation?  Even  Charity,  hard  as  she  may  try, 
cannot  believe  it.  To  every  such  person  the  ques- 
tion comes  direct  from  the  lips  of  Jesus. — *'  Why 
call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things 
which  I  say  ?  " 


ym. 

**  WORSHIP  GOD." 


Then  saith  he  unto  me,  See  thou  do  it  not :  for  I  am  thy  fellow- 
servant,  and  of  thy  brethren  the  prophets,  and  of  them  which  keep 
the  sayings  of  this  book :  worship  God, —  Revelations,  xxii :  9. 

IT  may  seem  strange  to  some  of  you  that  I 
should  introduce  such  a  simple  theme  as  this 
to  a  congregation  assembled  for  the  avowed  pur- 
pose of  worshipping  God.  I  do  not  wish  to  insult 
your  intelligence ;  very  far  from  that.  I  have 
always  tried  to  give  all  proper  deference  and 
respect  to  intelligence,  believing,  as  I  do,  that  true 
and  real  Christian  preaching  is  certain  to  deepen, 
broaden,  elevate  and  ennoble  the  intelligence  of 
those  who  submit  themselves  to  it.  Why  not? 
Is  it  not  occupied  with  the  profoundest  of  all 
themes?  What  theme  can  be  profounder  than 
the  nature  of  God,  the  nature  of  man,  and  the 
relation  of  man  to  God  ?  If  there  be  any  theme 
profounder  than  that  I  would  like  to  know  what  it 
is.  And  should  there  be  anyone  here  inclined  to 
say  that  we  can  know  nothing  about  it,  or  next  to 

103 


'WORSHIP  gob:'  103 

nothing,  or  only  a  very  little,  I  beg  to  join  issue 
with  that  individual.  lie  is  not  speaking  intelli- 
gently, not  speaking  out  of  his  own  individuality, 
only  reiterating  phrases  which  he  has  learnt  from 
others.  Supposing  I  never  see  the  artist  who 
painted  that  interesting  animal  picture  **  Dignity 
and  Impudence."  I  have  never  looked  on  his 
face,  never  talked  w^ith  him,  never  asked  him  as 
to  his  likes  and  dislikes.  But  I  look  on  his  picture, 
study  it,  not  its  coloring  only  or  chiefly,  or  its 
drawing,  but  its  expressiveness. 

And  as  I  look  and  look  I  say  to  myself —  Land- 
seer  evidently  had  a  wonderful  fondness  for  dogs. 
He  must  have  had  it,  or  he  could  not  have  put 
that  expression  into  the  faces  of  those  dogs. 
Those  eyes  are  almost  human  in  their  expressive- 
ness. And  so,  take  any  work  of  any  man,  and 
study  it,  and  you  will  learn  something  about  the 
man.  Not  everything,  by  any  means,  but  something. 
If  however  in  addition  to  that  picture  you  had 
studied  other  pictures  of  Landseer,  your  knowledge 
of  the  man  would  have  grown  more  and  more  ;  if 
then  you  had  talked  with  people  who  had  visited 
him,  held  social  converse  with  him,  walked  with 
him,  ate  with  him,  been  with  him  in  trouble  and 
joy,  your  know  ledge  would  have  grown  into  a  kind 
of  intimacy,  and  yet  you  have  never  seen  the  man. 
But  without  seeing  him,  you  have  true  knowledge 
of  him.     And  so  it  is  in  respect  to  every  one.     So 


104  ''WORSHIP  QOBr 

it  is  in  respect  to  God  Himself.  You  can  know 
much  of  Him.  All  his  works  speak  of  Him. 
There  is  strength  in  Him  says  the  mighty  mountain. 
There  is  majesty  in  Him  say  the  Niagaras  as  they 
roar.  There  is  light  in  Him,  says  the  sun. 
There  is  order  in  Him  say  the  stars  ;  such  order, 
says  the  comet,  such  punctuality  in  fulfilling  His 
appointments,  that  I  will  be  back  again  from  my 
measureless  orbit  to  a  second.  There  is  love  in 
Him  says  Jesus  Christ.  And  Jesus  Christ  is  as 
much  a  fact  as  is  this  American  Nation.  We  can 
know  enough  about  God  to  occupy  us  for  the 
years  we  have  here.  Yea :  we  can  know  more 
about  Him  than  these  few  years  can  ever 
exhaust. 

Of  course  no  one  knows  a  thing,  much  less  a 
person  with  any  respectable  degree  of  knowledge, 
who  does  not  come  into  some  kind  of  personal 
relationship  with  the  thing  or  person.  Our 
relationship  to  God  must  be  personal.  It  must 
be  somethino^  more  than  ors^anic.  The  beasts  that 
roam  the  forests,  the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills, 
have  some  sort  of  relationship  to  God.  He 
provides  for  them.  He  must  delight  in  them. 
The  song  of  the  bird,  the  mild  content  of  the 
domesticated  cow,  the  proud  beauty  of  the  Arab 
steed,  the  majesty  of  the  lion,  these  must  delight 
Him.  They  express  some  thought  and  feeling  in 
the  Divine  mind,  very  imperfectly,  very  blunder- 


*' WORSHIP  god:'  105 

ingly,  very  distantly,  but  still  enough  to  start  us 
thinking  and  inquiring.  And  is  not  that  an 
excellent  use  ?  Is  it  not  much  to  be  preferred  that 
a  man  should  be  perplexed  with  mysteries  than 
that  he  should  be  uninterested  in  anything,  torpid 
and  indifferent  to  a  most  shameful  degree  ?  It  is 
even  to  be  preferred  that  a  man  should  pass  along 
the  way  of  life  grumbling  at  everything  he  meets 
than  that  he  should  not  exist  at  all,  although  you 
and  I  perhaps  do  not  want  to  meet  that  man  too 
often.  But  still,  God  has  some  use  for  him,  as 
He  has  for  a  mosquito,  although  I  have  never 
discovered  what  it  is.  Do  you  suppose  that  the 
Almighty  has  to  give  an  account  of  everything  he 
does  and  makes  to  you  and  me  ?  I  believe  that 
the  mysteries  of  life  have  a  use  and  service  in 
regard  to  man  which  is  by  no  means  despicable. 
The  fact  that  there  is  so  much  unknown  makes 
life  doubly  interesting.  I  am  persuaded  that  one 
reason  why  this  country  is  at  the  present  day 
perhaps  the  most  interesting  country  on  the 
face  of  the  earth  lies  iu  the  fact  of  its  being 
only  partially  developed,  and  in  the  other  fact 
that  we  are  trying  experiments  all  the  while, 
the  great  experiment  of  making  all  nations  into  one 
nation.  And  the  very  fact  that  our  politicians 
and  others  make  such  emphatic  assertions  as  to 
our  greatness  and  our  excellency  is  a  sign  that  we 
are  a  little  bit  afraid  as  to  where  the  experiment 


106  "  WORSHIP  god:' 

will  land  us,  and  those  who  are  to  come  after 
us.  There  is  this  consolation,  however,  that  we 
cannot  with  our  democracy  do  very  much  worse 
than  others  have  done  with  their  monarchies  and 
aristocracies,  but  if  we  do  not  do  better,  and  very 
much  better,  a  heavy  cloud  of  disappointment  will 
hanoj  over  the  whole  earth  for  aojes  to  come. 
Perhaps  some  are  inclined  to  say,  **  Well,  we  shall 
know  nothing  about  it ;  we  shall  be  away  from 
here."  Don't  be  so  sure,  my  friend.  If  Moses 
and  Elijah  knew  what  was  being  transacted  on  this 
earth  /after  they  had  left  it,  and  came  to  that 
Mount  of  Transfiguration,  we  have  more  than  a 
suircfestion  that  we  are  to  know  about  this  earth 
after  we  have  left  it.  The  putting  off  this  prison- 
house  of  a  material  body  is  not  going  to  produce 
total  separation  between  this  earth  and  our  future, 
unless  all  the  hints  of  Scripture  are  misleading. 
The  doctrine  of  the  solidarity  of  the  human  race  — 
that  what  affects  one  affects  all  —  is  full  of  meaning. 
There  is  more  in  Scripture  than  any  of  you 
suppose  upon  the  connection  of  the  eternal  future 
with  the  present,  and  the  carrying  of  the  present 
into  the  future,  But  I  will  not  be  tempted  along 
that  line  now. 

We  know  enough  of  God  t6  enable  us  to 
worship  Him  and  serve  Him.  That  is  the  practi- 
cal thing.  What  is  worship  ?  Admiration  leading 
to  imitation.     Nothing  short  of  that.     That  is  our 


"WOBSHIP  GOD."  107 

Lord's  idea  of  it  as  you  will  find  in  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount.  In  Wordsworth's  poems  there  are 
some  excellent  hints  on  this  subject,  which  I 
cannot  quote.  So  also  in  Tennyson.  So  also  in 
Longfellow.  These  men  will  all  help  you  to  get 
into  that  state  of  mind  in  which  you  are  capable  of 
worship.  For  not  all  men  are  capable  of  such 
admiration  as  will  lead  to  imitation.  God  made 
man  capable  originally.  This  state  of  admiration 
leading  to  imitation  was  the  easy,  natural  state  of 
the  first  man.  That  is  the  Mosaic  idea.  But  our 
fathers  fell  out  from  that  ability,  and  we  have 
fallen  out  still  more,  till  men  and  women  have  lost 
this  ability  of  admiration  to  the  point  of  imitation. 
There  are  many  things  in  the  writings  of  Thomas 
Carlyle  which  none  of  us  can  accept.  But  there 
is  one  feature  in  the  rui2:£red  old  man  which  I 
have  always  appreciated,  his  intense  admiration 
for  his  heroes,  Cromwell,  Frederick  the  Great, 
Knox,  Mahomet,  and  others.  He  delights  in 
their  power  and  ability,  and  in  their  love  of 
righteousness.  If  only  we  could  search  suflS- 
ciently  into  character  to  verify  the  remark,  I 
think  we  should  find  that  no  man  was  ever  really 
good  or  really  great  who  had  not  in  him  a  strong 
tendency  to  idolize  somebody.  For  what  does 
this  tendency  mean?  It  means  that  in  the  indi- 
vidual there  is  great  receptive  power,  great  heai^t 
power,  great   love   power.     And  what  does   that 


108    -  "WORSHIP  GOD.'' 

mean,  but  great  power  of  goodness?  A  man's 
judgment  may  be  at  fault  and  lie  may  choose  an 
unworthy  object,  but  there  will  be  something  in 
his  object  that  fascinates  and  holds  him.  A  man 
who  has  the  capacity  of  great  admiration  has  not 
and  cannot  have  the  ability  of  great  enviousness  of 
disposition.  For  the  two  traits  are  psychologically 
incompatible.     The  one  excludes  the  other. 

We  may  laugh  at  Carlyle's  hero-worship,  but 
was  it  not  much  better  than  no  ability  of  worship 
at  all  ?  There  is  the  terrible  defect,  no  ability  of 
worship  at  all,  indicating,  as  it  does,  low  intellectu- 
alism,  low  heart  power,  low  imaginativeness,  low 
ideality,  general  inferiority  all  through.  The 
ability  of  admiration  must  be  in  us,  and  it  must  be 
in  us  to  the  degree  of  imitation,  or  Jesus  Christ 
Himself  will  have  no  power  to  fascinate  and  hold 
us.  And  if  even  the  heroic  character  of  Jesus, 
the  masculine  character  of  Jesus,  the  feminine 
character  of  Jesus,  the  superlatively  human  char- 
acter of  Jesus,  the  Divine  character  of  Jesus,  if 
that  have  no  power  to  win  us,  and  hold  us,  and 
draw  us  out,  and  bring  us  to  our  knees  in  w^orship, 
then,  I  know  not  what  to  say.  Something  terri- 
ble is  the  matter  with  that  man's  nature  which 
does  not  respond  to  the  ineffable  excellency  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.  It  is  of  no  use 
deceiving  men.  That  is  cruel.  I  say,  wherever 
there  is  no  response  to  the  fully  presented  char- 


"WORSHIP  GOD."  109 

acter  of  Jesus  Christ,  wherever  it  does  not  win 
admiration,  leading  to  imitation,  in  a  word  wor- 
ship, there  is  something  seriously  wrong  in  that 
nature.  St.  Paul,  one  of  the  most  gifted  men  of 
the  world,  one  of  the  most  considerate,  one  of  the 
most  loving  and  humane,  even  he  could  not  refrain 
himself  when  he  thought  of  Christ  Jesus  rejected, 
and  said,  '*If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  let  him  be  anathema." 

I  admit  that  it  does  seem  as  though  everi/  nature 
ought  to  have  in  it  this  ability  of  worship.  We 
see  it  to  a  most  pitiful  extent  in  many  heathen 
people,  giving  up  for  the  sake  of  their  false  deities 
so  very,  very  much  ;  so  very  much  more  than  we 
give  up  for  the  sake  of  our  Christ.  And  I  think 
God  Almighty  respects  and  loves  them  and  will 
not  be  hard  upon  them,  probably  put  many  of 
them  into  higher  service  in  the  hereafter  than  you 
and  I  shall  reach.  But  the  lesson  we  ought  to 
learn  from  these  heathen  people  is,  that  theology/ 
is  not  to  be  despised,  that  men  wdll  be  this  or  that 
in  life  and  feeling  according  to  their  theology, 
that  to  get  a  true  theology  is,  after  all,  worth 
while.  Doubtless  there  are  people  who  assume 
that  the  theologic  disputations  of  all  ages  are 
frivolous.  But,  let  us  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  concur 
in  that  opinion.  If  it  be  true  that  men  will  be 
this  or  that  according  to  their  ideas  of  what  God 
is  and  what  He  requires  of  them,  is  it  not  worth 


110  "WORSHIP  god:* 

while  to  be  very  careful  lest  we  should  get  wrong 
views  and  opinions  as  to  the  nature  of  Diety?  If 
I  believe  that  the  Almighty  is  simply  Almighty, 
that  that  is  His  chief  attribute,  the  result  will  be 
fear.  My  soul  will  crouch  in  His  presence.  I 
shall  be  but  a  slave.  I  cannot  rise  any  higher 
than  that.  If  on  the  other  hand  I  believe  that 
Deity  has  as  its  chief  attribute  easy  good  nature, 
no  indignation  in  it,  no  hostility  to  anything ; 
then  I  shall  be  sure  to  infer  that  good  and  evil  are 
only  names,  words  only,  not  things.  And 
righteousness  of  thought  and  feeling  will  be 
impossible  to  me.  The  idea  will  help  on  the 
corruptness  of  my  nature.  It  was  so  in  Greece 
and  Rome ;  their  ideas  of  Deity  were  so  corrupt 
that  they  corrupted  the  people.  So  long  as  Mars 
was  worshipped  as  a  Deity,  war  was  perpetual. 
So  long  as  Venus  was  a  goddess,  lust  was  inevita- 
ble. So  long  as  the  gods  were  treacherous  the 
people  were  treacherous  also.  When  religion's 
self  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  corrupts  the  people, 
the  decline  and  fall  are  very  rapid.  And  so,  it 
would  seem  that  the  disputations  of  theologians 
are  not  meaningless  or  useless.  They  are  vital. 
To  get  at  the  truth  is  worth  in  its  result  all  that 
we  can  sacrifice  of  ease  and  peace.  If  we  do  not 
care  what  the  truth  is,  then,  well  then  —  God  help 
us  —  that  is  all  I  can  say. 

Eecognizing  this  ability  of  worship  as  being  in 


"WORsnip  god:'  in 

our  constitution,  a  part  of  our  manhood,  that 
which  lifts  us  above  the  animal,  that  which 
bespeaks  us  of  a  higher  order  of  being ;  and  stat- 
ing it,  as  we  have  done  in  this  formula,  '  admiration 
leading  to  imitation'  —  does  it  not  appear  that 
whatever  we  admire  to  the  point  of  imitation  we 
worship  ?  Please  to  be  careful  in  taking  into  your 
memory  the  whole  of  this  phrase,  admiration  to 
the  point  of  imitation.  There  may  be  admiration 
of  so  feeble  a  kind  that  it  does  not  produce  any 
desire  to  imitate.  There  may  be  imitation  which 
does  not  involve  admiration.  It  is  mere  slavishness 
and  weakness,  the  inability  to  be  even  amiably 
individual.  The  extent  to  which  the  thing  which 
is  temporarily  fiishionable  in  dress  or  anything 
else  is  adopted  shows  how  slavish  and  how  weak 
we  all  are.  Imitation  there  may  be  without 
admiration,  admiration  without  imitation,  but 
when  we  get  admiration  up  to  the  point  of 
imitation  then  we  have  worship. 

And  this  worshipfulness  in  us  may  produce  very 
disastrous  results  to  character  when  the  object  is 
unworthy.  We  have  read  of  devil  worship.  Of 
course  we  assume  that  in  an  advanced  civilization 
like  our  own,  we  are  leagues  away  from  this.  I 
wish  with  all  my  heart  that  I  could  believe  it. 
Scripture  reveals  to  us  an  Evil  Personality  which 
it  calls  the  Prince  of  Darkness.  It  tells  us  that 
He  is  the   Father   of  Lies,  the   Accuser  of  the 


112  "WORSHIP  GODy 

Brethren,  the  Devourer,  the  One  who  offers  to 
men  (as  he  did  to  Jesus)  power  and  wealth  if  only 
they  will  take  it  in  his  way,  if  only  they  will 
fall  down  and  worship  Him.  He  is  represented  as 
being  the  enslaver  of  the  human  soul,  as  being 
the  arch-enemy  of  Christ,  as  great  in  wiles  and 
snares,  as  inciting  to  sin,  as  serpentine  in  his 
nature,  as  not  only  at  one  time  a  roaring  lion,  but 
at  another  as  a  snake  in  the  grass,  the  arch-traitor, 
the  arch-deceiver.  This  is  the  New  Testament 
revelation  of  the  character  of  this  Prince  of  Dark- 
ness. You  say  you  don't  believe  in  him.  I  hope 
not.  But  some  do,  for  they  imitate  him.  They 
admire  his  methods  and  adopt  them.  If,  you 
mean,  that  you  don't  believe  in  his  existence,  then 
you  know  more  than  Jesus  Christ  knows.  About 
which  I  for  one  have  an  honest  doubt.  This 
Prince  of  Darkness  has  been  very  successful  in 
this  world.  From  the  time  of  Adam  he  has  been 
at  work  here,  injecting  into  the  minds  of  men 
wrono:  views  about  God,  and  about  themselves. 
He  cannot  eradicate  from  the  constitution  of  man 
the  propensity  to  worship  and  so  he  says  ' '  worship 
me  ;  I  like  to  l)e  worshiped.  Admire  my  methods, 
imitate  my  way  of  action,"  (for  that  is  worship.) 
Worship  is  not  simply  bending  the  knee.  It  is 
admiration  to  the  point  of  imitation.  And  so  it 
comes  to  this  that  if  we  adopt  the  methods  which 
are  not  approved  by  Jesus  the   Christ  but  are 


''WORSHIP  god:'  113 

approved  by  the  Tempter  of  Jesus,  we  worship,  I 
do  not  like  to  admit  it,  I  shrink  from  the  admis- 
sion, but  I  cannot  see  any  way  of  escape,  we 
worship  the  devil.  I  am  compelled  to  go  a  step 
farther  yet  and  say  that  if  our  souls  were  so 
purified  that  evil  would  be  a  positive  pain  to  us,  as 
much  of  a  pain  to  the  soul  as  the  stab  of  a  poniard  to 
the  body,  our  perceptions  would  be  so  spiritualized 
that  the  extent  to  which  devil  worship  prevails 
would  appear  to  us  frightful  and  horrible.  That 
I  may  not  seem  to  be  making  vain  and  vague 
general  charges  against  an  impersonal  somebody 
about  whom  none  of  you  are  concerned,  let  me 
ask  you  to  recall  some  of  the  acknowledged  facts  of 
common  life.  This  evil  one  against  whom  our  Lord 
warns  us  is  called  *'  Tlie  Father  of  Lies."  Think 
how  many  people  there  are  who  do  not  shrink 
from  falsehood  when  there  is  anything  to  be 
gained  by  it.  Whom  do  these  worship  ?  Whom 
do  they  imitate  ? 

This  Evil  Personality  is  called,  **  The  Accuser  of 
the  Brethren."  Are  there  no  persons  living  in  the 
world  who  seem  to  take  a  malicious  and  cruel  de- 
light in  insinuations  which  undermine  the  character 
of  others — specially  of  Christian  men  and  women? 
Whom  do  these  worship  ?  They  who  systemati- 
cally betray  others  and  deceive  others,  who  lay 
traps  for  them  and  snares  for  them — whom  do 
these  worship?     They  worship  Him  >yhom  they 


114  '^WORSniP  GOD." 

imitate ;  there  is  no  other  answer.  We  really 
need  not  take  ship  and  cross  the  seas  to  find 
devil-worship.  Unless  the  teaching  of  Jesus  is 
not  reliable,  it  is  nearer  home  than  that. 

But  I  must  turn  away  from  it ; — it  is  too  pain- 
ful a  theme  to  dwell  on  for  more  than  a  moment. 
Jesus  the  Christ  by  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  can 
deliver  us  from  this  frightful  worship,  but  no  one 
else  can.  It  is  His  mission  on  this  earth,  to 
deliver  us  from  it.  Let  us  learn  more  and  more 
to  admire  and  imitate  Him  that  we  may  overcome 
it.  For  the  full  consequences  of  it  are  not  seen 
here  on  earth.     The  end  is  not  by  and  by. 

My  time  is  passing,  but  it  would  not  do  to  stop 
at  this  point.  I  must  detain  you  a  minute  or  two 
longer  while  I  say  that  there  is  nothing  that  you 
and  I  need  for  our  enlightenment  and  enlivenment 
so  much  as  a  more  simple  and  earnest  worship  of 
God.  Our  minds  grow  languid,  our  intellect 
becomes  torpid,  our  afi'ections  loose  their  youthful 
freshness  and  energy  if  we  do  not  keep  before  us 
some  one  to  admire  and  imitate,  some  one  to  wor- 
ship. Practically,  to  us,  God  is  Jesus  Christ. 
We  cannot  get  above  what  He  has  revealed.  If 
you  think  otherwise  try  it.  In  the  Church  we 
need  a  more  simple,  hearty,  enthusiastic  worship 
of  God.  I  hope  you  will  not  be  frightened  at  that 
word  *  enthusiastic'  It  does  not  mean  fanatic. 
Fanaticisn^  is  bljnJ  emotion,  uncurbed  by  reason, 


"WORSHIP  GOD."  115 

unchecked  by  intellect.  It  is  the  steam  in  the 
engine  uncontrolled  by  the  hand  of  the  engineer. 
But  enthusiasm — it  means  the  Spirit  of  God  in 
the  intellect,  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  reason,  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  the  heart  and  so  in  the  whole 
personality  and  in  the  whole  life.  I  was  telling 
some  friends  the  other  night  about  a  clergyman  in 
London,  sitting  in  the  retiring  room  of  a  Cemetery 
Chapel,  waiting  patiently  for  a  funeral  which  was 
much  behind  the  appointed  time,  when  suddenly 
the  sexton  opened  the  door,  and  said  to  the  clergy- 
man, **If  you  please.  Sir,  the  Corpse's  brother 
wants  to  speak  with  you."  The  astonished 
clergyman  was  for  a  moment  appalled  at  the  idea 
of  meeting  a  Corpse's  brother,  hardly  knowing 
whether  it  would  be  a  live  or  dead  man.  I  have 
sometimes  thought  that  some  of  our  churches 
might  not  inaptly  be  designated  as  a  Corpse's 
brother.  I  have  no  ambition  to  be  tied  to  any 
such  church.  If  there  be  any  place  where  the 
smell  of  death  is  not  only  unpleasant  but  repul- 
sive, it  is  in  a  church  whose  very  foundation  is 
life  from  the  dead.  As  one  has  said,  ''Our 
churches  as  mere  organized  bodies  are  comely 
enough,  and  they  are  not  without  some  degree  of 
life  and  strength.  They  work  easily,  quietly, 
philosophically,  and  cautiously,  like  a  man  of 
seventy  years  of  age  who  is  careful  in  all  his 
movements,  and  afraid  of  domg  too  much.     But 


116  "WORSHIP  GODr 

you  must  excuse  me  when  I  say  that  we  are  want- 
ing in  the  strength  and  vigor  and  energy  of  a  man 
of  twenty-five.     We  are  old  before  our  time." 

We  need  to  worship  God,  That  is  all.  Every- 
thing we  need  would  come  if  only  we  could 
worship.  The  coldness  would  leave  the  region  of 
the  heart.  There  would  come  more  thinking 
power  into  the  intellect.  The  glories  of  the  Apo- 
calypse would  not  be  too  glorious  for  the 
regenerated  imagination.  Much  of  the  Scripture 
which  is  now  dark  to  us,  because  out  of  the  reach 
of  our  experience,  would  become  clear.  Our 
horizon  would  stretch  out  and  out  beyond  the 
present  limits  of  vision.  How  often  it  is  with  us 
as  with  those  painters  who  paint  a  beautiful  little 
bit  of  country  all  shut  in  with  rocks  and  hills,  not 
even  a  glimpse  of  luminous  sky  above  to  speak 
of  something  else  than  this  ornate  little  prison. 
The  greatest  painters  never  do  that.  They  leave 
an  outlook.  They  suggest  infinite  distances. 
Our  life,  the  life  of  every  Unchristianized  man  is 
shut  in.  It  has  no  outlook.  What  would  the 
New  Testament  be  without  the  Book  of  the  Eev- 
elation  of  St.  John?  That  gives  it  artistic 
completeness.  The  end  of  the  Book  of  Revelation 
is,  **Theendof  the  great  tragedy  of  life.  The 
beast  has  vanished ;  the  hissing  of  the  unclean 
spirits  has  been  silenced ;  the  Dragon,  the  old 
serpent  called  the  Devil  and  Satan,  is  bound ;  the 


*'WOESmP  GOD.'*  117 

tempest  has  ceased ;  the  thunders  are  hushed ; 
the  smoke  and  the  clouds  are  swept  away ;  the 
light  shines,  and  the  pinnacles  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem come  forth  to  view.  Life  is  blessed  in  that 
city.  There  shall  be  no  more  curse,  no  more 
sorrow,  no  more  crying,  no  more  pain.  God 
shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes." 

You  call  that  poetry,  do  you?  Suppose  it  is 
poetry,  what  then  ?  No  poet  ever  yet  equalled  the 
fact  which  he  poetized,  as  no  painter  ever  yet 
mixed  colors  equal  to  those  in  nature.  When 
the  poetry  is  gone  out  of  our  life,  it  is  like  the 
sappiness  gone  out  of  the  tree  ;  all  that  is  left  is 
sawdust.  *' Worship  God"  and  the  poetry  will 
return  into  your  dried-up  lives,  as  the  Psalmist 
suggests  in  the  words,  *' Bless  the  Lord,  O  my 
soul,  and  all  that   is  within  me   bless   His   holy 


IX. 

THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES. 


"  Do  not  sin  against  the  child." —  Genesis,  xlii :  22. 

THESE  words  were  spoken  by  the  eldest  born 
of  Israel's  sons  when  there  was  a  conspiracy 
among  them  to  deprive  Joseph  of  his  birthright  in 
the  family.  There  are  so  many  aspects  of  the 
great  theme  of  the  Incarnation  that  one  must  neces- 
sarily feel  no  little  perplexity  when  obliged  to 
select  the  ideas  to  be  presented  on  any  special 
occasion.  So  much  must  be  left  unsaid.  Our 
theme  at  the  best  must  be  wretchedly  incomplete. 
The  Incarnation  is  the  miracle  of  miracles.  It  is 
too  subtle  a  theme  for  the  Intellect.  When  we 
try  to  satisfy  the  mind  we  come  to  a  point  beyond 
which  we  cannot  pass  by  any  intellectual  process. 
And  yet,  this  limitation  ought  not  to  produce  any 
kind  of  scepticism  as  to  the  fact  itself.  For  all  life 
in  its  origin  is  mysterious.  And  if  the  facts  about 
it  were  not  so  common,  if  men  were  not  born  into 
the  world  every  day,  we  should  doubtless  perceive 
more  readily  than  we  do  how  very  little  indeed 

118 


THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES.  119 

man's  part  is  in  the  production  of  any  thing. 
All  vital  facts  elude  us.  They  are;  but  we  cannot 
tell  how  they  are. 

This  we  know,  however,  that  intellect  is  not 
everything  in  us.  Our  nature  comprises  much 
else  than  the  intellectual.  There  are  facts  for  the 
heart  of  man  which  once  apprehended  never  leave 
us.  And  this  of  the  Incarnation  is  one.  How 
shall  Deity  so  reveal  Himself  to  man  as  to  win  his 
confidence  and  love  ?  That  is  the  great  practical 
question  of  religion.  The  answer  to  that  question 
is  the  Incarnation  —  God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 
If  we  were  inclined  to  look  at  this  fact  philosophi- 
cally, it  would  be  easy  to  show  that  in  man's 
nature  there  is  the  inwrought  expectation  of  an 
Incarnation.  For  what  is  idolatry  but  an  attempt 
on  man's  part  to  bring  God  within  human  limita- 
tions ?  Jesus  Christ  satisfies  that  instinct  in  man 
which  leads  to  idolatry.  The  instinct  must  be 
gratified.  The  Incarnation  is  the  Divine  answer 
to  that  instinct.  Jesus  coming  into  humanity 
becomes  the  heart  of  humanity.  You  cannot  now 
put  any  one  else  than  Jesus  Christ  at  the  centre  of 
our  life.  In  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  superiority 
of  nature  gives  superiority  of  position.  There  is 
nothing  arbitrary  or  forced  in  the  supremacy  of 
Jesus. 

In  the  Incarnation,  God  joins  himself  to  our 
humanity    as    never    before,    joins    himself    to 


120  THE  CniLD  AND  HIS  DUES, 

our  childhood  as  well  as  to  our  manhood.  And 
the  fact  that  I  want  to  put  above  every  other  in 
this  morning's  meditation  is  this,  that  God  can 
and  does  speak  through  childhood  as  well  as 
through  fully  developed  manhood.  Childhood  is 
no  hindrance  to  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
but  a  necessary  stage  in  the  work,  a  stage  which 
if  lost  can  never  be  fully  recovered.  And  as  I  am 
sure  that  we  have  never  given  sufficient  thought 
to  the  meaning  of  the  impressibility  of  childhood, 
and  have  never  enough  apprehended  that  our 
great  religious  opportunity  is  in  the  first  few  years 
of  a  child's  life, —  I  shall  use  the  brief  time  allotted 
to  me  at  this  Christmas  service  in  a  presentation  of 
such  ideas  as  may  help  towards  a  revision  of  our 
creed  on  this  point.  When  we  look  at  the  babe 
of  Bethlehem,  is  not  the  thous^ht  irresistible,  God 
can  speak  to  us  through  the  helplessness  of  the 
babe.  And  when  we  watch  that  babe  as  it  is 
hurried  away  from  persecution,  and  think  that 
it  is  carried  in  the  fostering  arms  of  motJierhood, 
can  we  resist  the  thought,  that  the  preservation  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  earth  is  dependent  on 
the  sanctification  and  consecration  of  motherhood  ? 
The  Incarnation  is  the  elevation  of  mother- 
hood to  a  place  it  had  never  had  in  any  heathen 
or  pagan  country.  The  preservation  of  God's 
Kingdom  in  the  world  is  dependent,  so  it  seems, 
on  the  sanctification  of  those  human  instincts  which 


THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES.  121 

the  Creator  has  sown  in  our  nature.  Surely  that 
is  a  great  enough  truth  to  justify  the  Kingdom  of 
God  being  hidden  away  in  the  infanthood  of  a 
babe.  The  tendency  of  religion  has  often  been 
to  say,  crucify  your  social  instincts.  They  are 
unholy  and  unclean.  Christianity  says,  conse- 
crate them  and  they  immediately  become  holy  and 
clean.  Christianity  began  with  a  consecrated 
childhood  and  a  consecrated  motherhood .  Through 
these  relationships  God  spake  his  first  parental 
word  in  this  dispensation  in  which  we  now  live. 

If  you  will  allow  me  the  expression  —  all  the 
gentlenesses  and  delicacies,  all  the  modesties  and 
sweet  refinements  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  were 
brought  into  human  expression  in  that  babe  and 
that  mother.  That  child  stood  for  all  children, 
that  mother  for  all  mothers  thenceforth.  God 
spake  through  that  child  in  order  that  we  might 
learn  that  He  could  speak  and  did  speak  through 
childhood.  Why  should  God  limit  himself  to  the 
conditions  of  a  child's  nature  ?  Because  there  is  a 
language  to  be  spoken  through  the  child  which 
can  never  be  spoken  except  through  the  child. 
Because  there  is  a  rebuke  to  be  given  to  our  proud 
grown-up  intellectualism  which  arrogates  to  itself 
the  prerogative  of  being  God's  voice  and  his  only 
voice.  And  the  reason  why  we  have  so  often 
and  so  sorely  missed  the  meaning  of  this  childhood 
of  Jesus  as  a  part  of  the  revelation  of  God  is  in 


123  THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES. 

this  —  that  we  have  thought  of  religion  as 
something  intellectual,  simply  —  a  matter  of 
doctrines  and  creeds,  and  logical  propositions. 
And  have  we  not  asked  what  can  a  child  know  of 
the  truth  or  falsity  of  these  ?  A  sufficient  answer 
would  be. — *  It  will  know  just  what  its  father  and 
mother  tell  it,  for  a  child  is  so  constituted  that  it 
believes  in  its  father  «nd  mother.'  But  we  will 
not  give  that  answer.  We  go  deeper  than  that, 
and  first  of  all  deny  that  religion  consists  in 
doctrines  and  creeds  and  intellectual  propositions, 
any  more  than  a  dinner  consists  of  the  printed 
receipts  of  a  Cookery  Book.  Religion  is  aback  of 
these  literary  productions.  It  consists  of  love  to 
God  and  love  to  man. 

Love  is  not  an  intellectual  thing  at  all.  The 
essence  of  the  Christian  religion  is  love.  That 
elevates  it  above  every  other  religion  the  human 
race  has  ever  known.  Can  a  child  love  ?  Can  it 
love  father  or  mother  ?  Can  it  depend  on  father 
and  mother  ?  Can  it  confide  in  father  or  mother  ? 
If  so,  it  can  love  God.  If  so  it  can  love  man,  for 
father  and  mother  represent  mankind  to  it.  We 
who  are  adults  love  mankind  to  the  extent  (and 
only  to  the  extent)  to  which  we  love  the  represen- 
tatives of  it  whom  we  know. 

Set  God  as  He  is  in  Jesus  Christ  before  the 
heart  of  a  child,  and  will  there  be  no  response  in 
that    heart?     Then    there    has    been    somethinor 


o 


THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES.  123 

terribly  atheistic  in  the  secondary  parenthood  of 
that  child.  The  primary  parenthood  is  in  God  — 
the  secondary  parenthood  in  man.  I  go  aback  of 
secondary  parenthood,  aback  of  all  ideas — opinions, 
creeds  and  formularies  of  man's  devising,  and  I 
aver  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible  in  the  nature 
of  things  that  Almighty  God  can  so  form  the 
spirits  he  puts  into  human  bodies  as  that  in  them 
from  the  first  there  shall  be  a  negative  of  Himself. 
The  root  of  the  error  is  in  this  assumption,  that  a 
child's  nature  is  animal  and  irreligious,  an  idea 
that  never  originated  in  Christianity  but  in 
paganism  and  gross  materialism.  A  too  narrow 
view  of  religion,  and  a  too  narrow  view  of  child- 
hood, have  landed  us  in  ideas  and  in  practices 
which  are  most  assuredly  Anti-Christian.  The 
view  that  religion  is  something  to  be  learned  from 
without  and  not  something  to  be  evolved  from 
within,  something  intellectual,  not  affectional  and 
vital,  is  at  the  root  of  this  most  serious  error,  an 
error  so  radical  and  serious  that  I  verily  believe , 
that  such  themes  as  that  recently  discussed  over 
the  Andover  professorship,  are  the  veriest  trifles  in 
comparison  with  it.  If  religion  be  a  mere 
intellectual  acquirement  like  a  knowledge  of  the 
history  of  philosophy,  of  course  it  would  be 
useless  to  expect  children  to  know  anything  about 
it,  or  to  have  any  experience  of  it.  But  if  religion 
has  its  seat  in  the  heart  and  in  the  will,  if  it  be 


124  THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES. 

far  more  affectional  than  intellectual ,  then  wherever 
affection  and  will  are  operative,  religion  is  alike 
capable  of  being  brought  into  operation.  If  there 
be  no  affection  and  no  will  in  a  child  there  can  be 
no  religion,  if  there  be  affection  and  will  there  can 
be  religion  also.  On  this  point  there  cannot  be  a 
doubt  as  to  what  is  the  Scripture  position.  The 
Book  which  contains  such  sentences  as  these 
*'  Out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of  life,"  '«  With 
the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness," 
"  Whosoever  receiveth  one  such  little  child  in  my 
name  receiveth  me,  but  whosoever  shall  be  a 
stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  these  little  ones 
which  believe  in  me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a 
millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck  and  he 
drowned  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,"  I  say  as  to  the 
position  of  that  Book  on  this  question  there  can 
be  no  doubt.  Then,  why  has  the  other  position 
been  held  by  so  many,  that  religion  is  an  intellec- 
tual and  mental  acqurement  for  adults  and  not  an 
affectional  relation  towards  God  on  the  part  of 
everyone?  There  is  but  one  answer,  *' we  err, 
not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor  the  power  of 
God."  So  long  as  any  of  us  are  under  the  blight 
of  the  error  that  in  order  to  be  in  an}^  degree 
religious,  it  is  necessary  to  be  capable  of  judging 
and  weighing  evidence  pi^o  and  con,  so  long  we 
shall  feel  justified  in  holding  that  a  Christian 
church  is   a   confederation   of  adult  persons,  or 


THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES.  125 

persons  who  have  arrived,  as  we  say,  at  years  of 
discretion.  But  if  once  we  went  to  the  Bible  and 
bathed  our  souls  in  its  baptismal  waters,  saturated 
ourselves  with  its  spirit,  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  us  to  take  that  position.  Many  things 
would  stand  in  the  way,  many  facts,  many  passages 
of  Holy  Scripture,  but  chiefest  of  all  obstacles 
would  be  that  which  we  think  of  to-day,  the  great 
fact  of  the  Incarnation  of  our  Lord  and  Savior 
Jesus  Christ.  The  babe  at  Bethlehem  is  the 
Divine  Word  in  its  tenderest  and  gentlest  expres- 
sion. 

Now,  this  mistake  as  to  the  seat  of  all  true 
religion,  that  it  is  in  the  intellect  and  not  in  the 
heart,  is  by  no  means  trivial.  It  must,  of  neces- 
sity, influence  all  our  practical  church  life.  If 
children  have  divine  relations  and  rights  God- 
ward,  and  we  do  not  recognize  them,  and  in  our 
ignorance  defraud  the  children  of  them,  their 
whole  life  is  likely  to  be  of  a  different  color  and 
tendency  from  what  it  would  otherwise  be.  It 
is  easy  to  see  this.  If  we  believe  that  religion 
has  its  seat  in  the  affections  and  not  in  the  intel- 
lect, we  shall  perceive  that  the  religious  education 
of  the  child  begins  as  soon  as  its  affectional  nature 
is  capable  of  receiving  impressions.  How  soon  is 
that?  How  soon  does  a  child  know  enough  to 
distinguish  between  its  own  mother  and  a  stranger  ? 
The   first  years   of  a   child's   life   are   years     of 


126  THE  CIIILB  AND  HIS  DUES. 

impressions  and  nothing  else.  The  age  of  reflec- 
tion has  not  come,  nor  will  for  some  time.  The 
plastic  age  is  the  first.  Every  day,  every  hour, 
every  moment,  impressions  are  being  made  on  the 
affectional  nature  of  the  child,  impressions  which 
will  last  as  long  as  that  nature  lasts.  That  being 
so,  is  it  possible  to  over-estimate  the  value  of 
those  first  years  for  the  highest  purposes  of  life  ? 
I  wish  that  it  were  a  proper  thing  for  me  to 
reproduce  in  your  hearing  some  of  the  glowing 
words  of  an  American  Divine  not  long  since  de- 
ceased, whose  influence  on  the  ministers  of  our 
English  Churches  has  been  greater  than  that  of  all 
other  American  divines  put  together.  Speaking 
on  this  theme,  to  which  I  have  been  led  this 
morning,  he  says — '*I  have  no  scales  to  measure 
quantities  of  efiect  in  this  matter  of  early  training, 
but  I  may  be  allowed  to  express  my  solemn 
conviction,  that  more,  as  a  general  fact,  is  done, 
or  lost  by  neglect  of  doing,  on  a  child's  immor- 
tality, in  the  first  three  years  of  his  life,  than  in 
all  his  years  of  discipline  afterwards."  And  again 
he  says  still  more  emphatically,  *'Let  every 
Christian  father  and  mother  understand,  when  their 
child  is  three  years  old,  that  they  have  done  more 
than  half  of  all  they  will  ever  do  for  his  character." 
It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  greatest  of  all 
Pre-Christian  philosophers,  Plato,  held  substan- 
tially the  same  view.     And  when  He  whose  word 


THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES.  127 

to  us  is  law,  before  whose  utterances  our  opinions 
hide  their  diminished  heads  in  the  dust,  when  He 
said,  ''Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me 
and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven,"  was  He  not  saying  the  same  thing, 
only  in  a  divine  way,  as  this  Plato  of  the  American 
pulpit  ? 

But,  some  one  might  ask,  how  is  it  possible  to 
give  religious  insti'uction  to  a  child  of  three  years 
of  age?  Religious  instruction  can  be  but  little, 
but  it  is  always  safe  to  postpone  religious 
instruction  when  the  child  is  in  the  constant 
presence  of  religious  character.  Religious  or  ir- 
religious imp7'essioiis  are  produced  from  the 
earliest  times.  And  of  these  we  are  now  speak- 
ing. They  are  the  most  important.  Religious 
inst7'uction  is  only  a  part  of  religious  education. 
All  education  begins  at  the  cradle  and  continues 
as  long  as  life  lasts.  Connecting  the  two  dispen- 
sations once  again,  the  greatest  mind  of  Pre- 
Christian  times  will  help  us  as  to  this  matter  when 
he  says,  "The  best  way  of  training  the  young,  is 
to  train  yourself;  not  to  admonish  them,  but  to  be 
always  carrying  out  your  own  principles  in  prac- 
tice." And  our  modern  theological  Plato  says  : 
''In  this  charge  and  nurture  of  infant  children, 
nothing  is  to  be  done  by  an  artificial  lecturing 
process.  The  defect  of  our  character  is  not  to  be 
made  up  by  the  sanctity  of  our  words ;  we  must 


128  THE  CniLD  AND  HIS  DUES. 

be  all  that  we  would  have  our  children  feel  and 
receive.  Thus,  if  a  man  were  to  be  set  before  a 
mirror,  with  the  feeling  that  the  exact  image  of 
what  he  is  for  the  day,  is  there  to  be  produced 
and  left  as  a  permanent  and  fixed  image  forever, 
to  what  carefulness,  what  delicate  sincerity  of 
spirit  would  he  be  moved.  And  will  he  be  less 
moved  to  the  same,  when  that  mirror  is  the  soul 
of  his  child?" 

Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  though  parents  may 
withhold  religious  instruction  from  their  children 
they  cannot  withhold  religious  education.  For  it 
goes  on  by  a  Divine  law,  over  which  we  have  no 
control.  Whenever  a  stronger,  a  more  fixed  and 
determined  nature  comes  into  perpetual  contact 
with  a  younger  and  more  plastic  nature,  the  latter 
is  educated  by  the  former.  The  former  impresses 
itself  upon  it.  Hence  the  importance  of  the 
associations  which  children  form.  Hence  the  sol- 
emn duty  which  is  laid  upon  parents  to  discrimi- 
nate between  the  influences  to  which  they  subject 
their  children.  The  more  plastic  the  child  the 
nobler  in  the  long  run  will  be  his  life,  but  the  more 
care  is  necessary  in  its  beginnings.  I  know  that 
there  is  the  Unseen  Spirit  of  God  working  on  the 
spirit  of  the  child  all  the  time.  That  spirit  is 
stirring  the  mind  into  thought  and  the  heart  into 
feeling.  But  God  has  decreed  that  the  ordinance 
of  parenthood  shall  be  the  most  powerful  in  all 


TEE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES.  129 

this  world.  Richard  Baxter,  the  author  of  the 
Saint's  Rest,  gave  it  as  his  judgment  that  "Family 
instruction  and  government  are  God's  appoint- 
ed means  of  conversion — public  ordinances  of 
edification." 

That  may  be  the  law  to  which  practically  there 
are  exceptions,  but  this  we  may  say  unhesitat- 
ingly, that  never  can  the  Church  of  God  do  its 
Divinely-appointed  work  till  there  is  intelligent 
co-operation  between  it  and  the  family.  And  this 
also,  that  nothing  outside  the  family  can  ever  be 
powerful  enough  to  neutralize  the  influence  of 
family  life  if  it  be  irreligious  or  to  thoroughly 
undo  its  influences  if  it  be  religious.  It  is  not 
conceivable  that  any  one  should  ever  love  a  child 
as  a  parent  loves  it,  and  therefore  it  is  not 
conceivable  that  parents  should  ever  deliberately 
do  anything  whereby  their  children  may  be  in- 
jured. But  error  and  love  may  dwell  together  in 
the  same  heart ;  ignorance  and  love  may  dwell  to- 
gether. There  may  be  no  perception  of  the  rela- 
tion of  religion  to  happiness,  no  perception  of  the 
relation  of  the  Christ  of  God  to  the  development 
of  character. 

Men  and  women  of  average  goodness,  who  would 
do  anything  in  the  world  they  thought  necessary 
for  the  world-life  of  their  children,  have  not  got 
their  eyes  open  to  perceive  that  happiness  depends 
on  the  within  more  than  on  the  without.     They  do 


130  THE  CniLD  AND  HIS  D  TIES. 

not  for  a  moment  despise  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
work,  but  they  assume  that  religion  can  be  left  to 
take  care  of  itself.  They  do  not  see  that  the  presen- 
tation of  Christ  to  the  soul  awakes  into  life  some- 
thing which  is  otherwise  dormant.  The  question 
whether  there  is  anything  in  Christ  to  touch  into 
feeling  and  hope  and  confidence,  a  child's  heart, 
has  not  been  seriously  considered.  How  it  is,  I 
know  not,  but  the  fact  remains  that  even  christian- 
ized people  do  not  see  how  studiously  our  Lord 
identifies  himself  with  the  cause  of  the  little  child, 
and  the  cause  of  the  poor  and  unfortunate,  and 
every  true  minister  will  do  the  same.  Our  clients 
are  those  who  cannot  speak  for  themselves  — 
the  little  child  that  cannot  speak  what  it  feels,  the 
little  child  with  its  innate  ideas,  ideas  not  orig- 
inated by  teaching,  ideas  which  are  emotions  strug- 
gling within,  which  God  has  inwrought  into  the 
soul ;  and  the  poor  who  dare  not  speak  out  what 
they  feel,  who  have  so  generally  in  the  past  ages 
of  the  world  been  robbed  and  wronged  ;  Christ 
identified  himself  with  these.  Let  us  not  forget  that 
w^ierever  there  is  relisrious  feelino^,  there  is  relis^ious 
life.  This  religious  feeling  in  childhood  is  to  be 
developed  as  the  basis  of  religious  action  in  man- 
hood. It  is  in  the  soul  of  man  as  it  was  in  the 
creation  of  this  material  world.  First  of  all  there 
was  the  chaos,  the  sweltering  surging  waters,  and 
the  spirit  of  God  moving  on  the  face  of  the  waters. 


THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES.  131 

But  out  of  it  came  the  Cosmos  —  the  Divine  or- 
der—  the  solid  earth  with  its  mineral  wealth  and 
its  treasures  of  coal  ready  for  the  habitation  of 
man  ;  but  the  solidity  followed  the  liquidity  ;  and 
so  it  is  with  a  human  soul.  At  first  there  is  relig- 
ious feeling,  out  of  which  under  proper  culture  and 
the  o'erbrooding  spirit  of  God,  will  grow  the  solid, 
indestructible  convictions  of  manhood  and  woman- 
hood. But,  if  you  repress  the  feeling,  and  throw 
cold  water  on  it  when  it  glows  in  childhood,  how 
are  you  to  get  your  convictions  in  manhood  ?  You 
have  destroyed  the  material  out  of  which  convic- 
tions are  made. 

Before  the  animal  passions  begin  to  assert  them- 
selves, as  in  youth  or  early  manhood,  there  should 
have  been  evolved  in  the  soul  a  religious  love  which 
shall  control  and  moderate  them  and  bring  them 
under  the  power  of  reason.  And  so  it  should  be 
evident  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  beginning  too 
early  with  religious  culture,  providing  we  mean  by 
it  Christ  and  his  spirit  and  temper.  Everything 
of  an  abstract  nature,  and  especially  everything 
controversial  must  be  postponed.  Jesus  —  what 
he  was,  what  he  said,  what  he  did ;  this  is  all 
that  a  child  needs,  and  it  really  does  seem  as  though 
God  had  made  special  provision  in  the  method  of 
the  New  Testament  literature,  in  its  parables  and 
miracles  for  the  child's  nature.  While  the  deep- 
est meaning  is  profound   enough  for  the  philoso- 


133  THE  CHILD  AI\'D  HIS  DUES. 

pher,  the  surface  teaching  is  simple  enough  for 
the  child. 

But  I  must  not  take  liberties  with  your  atten- 
tion, although  no  theme  is  of  greater  practical 
importance,  and  none  deserves  more  thorough 
treatment. 

So  long  as  we  are  in  fetters  to  the  idea  that 
religion  has  its  seat  in  the  intellect,  so  long  the 
children  of  our  day  will  be  defrauded  of  their 
rights  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  When  once  we 
are  converted  to  the  scriptural  position  that  the 
seat  of  religion  is  in  the  affectional  region,  then 
children  will  begin  to  have  their  souls  recognized 
as  well  as  their  bodies  ;  never  till  then.  The  in- 
tellectual view  of  religion  limits  God's  relation  to 
the  soul  of  man.  It  limits  the  sphere  of  the  oper- 
ation of  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  limits  the  area  of 
Christ's  atonement  by  virtually  making  it  depend 
on  intellectual  apprehension,  thus  confining  its 
results  to  adult  life.  It  limits  and  pauperizes 
human  nature.  It  puts  religion  on  the  same  level 
with  mathematics,  biology,  geology,  philosophy, 
something  to  be  acquired  mentally.  It  makes 
God's  will  to  be  limited  by  man's  will,  and  makes 
the  Almighty  w^ait  as  a  servant  at  man's  door  to 
ask  permission  of  his  creature  to  begin  his  work 
on  the  soul.  Thus,  this  intellectual  view  of  relio:- 
ion  is  dishonoring  to  man  and  God  both.  The 
Ptolemaic  system  of  astronomy  was   superseded 


THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES.  133 

geDerations  ago.  The  Ptolemaic  system  of  re- 
ligion remains  still  —  man  with  his  proud  intellect 
at  the  centre,  not  God  with  his  unchanging  love. 
When  our  Lord  took  a  little  child  and  set  him  in 
the  midst  of  the  disciples  and  said  that  that  little 
child  was  the  greatest  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven, 
He,  by  that  act,  overturned  the  religion  of  mere 
intellectualism  and  established  a  religion  in 
which  the  affectional  was  uppermost.  The  affec- 
tional  was  predominant  in  that  child.  Greatness 
always  has  its  seat  in  the  affections.  There  never 
yet  was  a  great  nature  in  which  the  affectional  was 
not  predominant.  Of  course  if  there  be  no  affec- 
tion in  your  child  there  can  be  no  religion.  And 
the  depth,  the  strength,  the  force,  the  fervor,  the 
glow  of  religious  conviction  in  any  soul  will  be  in 
exact  relation  to  the  depth,  the  force,  the  strength 
of  the  affection  in  that  soul.  Selfishness,  schem- 
ing, and  calculation  eat  out  the  capacity  for 
religiousness  in  a  soul  because  they  eat  out  its 
capacity  for  affection. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  there  is  only  one  be- 
ginning to  any  life,  and  everything  in  the  life 
begins  then.  You  cannot  begin  a  religious  life  at 
forty  or  fifty  without  beginning  it  under  disadvan- 
tages which  are  serious.  Nor  can  you  begin  it  at 
twenty  without  some  disadvantages  that  need  not 
be.  The  beginnings  of  religion  or  irreligion  are 
in  tiie  earliest  years,  and  long  before  its  existence 


134  THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES. 

is  recognized.  Even  Calvin,  speaking  of  infancy, 
says,  *'  The  work  of  God  in  the  soul  is  not  without 
existence  because  it  is  unobserved  and  not 
understood  by  us."  We  forget  that  everything 
that  is  in  manhood  is  in  germ  in  childhood  — 
everything.  There  is  nothing  added  in  after 
years,  no  new  faculty,  no  new  power.  It  is  all 
there  from  the  first.  And  that  which  is  strongest 
in  manhood  is  that  which  has  been  fed  and  tutored 
into  predominance.  The  whole  Kingdom  of 
Christ  lay  folded  up  in  that  babe  at  Bethlehem. 
It  was  there  in  its  quietest,  its  gentlest  and 
sweetest  expression.  And  in  every  babe  there  is 
religious  capacity.  If  not,  in  the  babe  there  will 
never  be  in  the  man.  Oh  then,  do  not  sin  against 
the  child.  Do  not  rob  it  of  its  place  in  the  family. 
Do  not  defraud  it  of  its  birthright.  As  soon  as  it 
can  know  anything  let  it  know  that  it  has  a  father 
and  mother  on  earth  because  it  has  a  father  in 
Heaven,  a  Deliverer  from  all  evil  in  Jesus  the 
Christ,  let  this  be  the  basis  truth  on  which  its 
nature  is  built.  And  then  if  in  the  stormy  years 
of  temptation  that  follow,  it  should  ever  be 
tempted  to  the  folly  and  madness  of  the  prodigal, 
and  leave  the  shelter  of  a  Father's  House  to  spend 
its  substance  in  riotous  living,  there  is  a  hope, 
amounting  almost  to  an  assurance,  that  when  it 
conies  to  itself,  the  first  truth  it  knew  will  assert 
its  power  and  the  erring  soul  will  turn  its  footsteps 


THE  CHILD  AND  HIS  DUES.  135 

back  with  the  resolve,  *'  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my 
Father  and  will  say  unto  him ,  *  Father  I  have 
sinned  against  Heaven  and  before  thee,  and  am  no 
more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son.'"  ^ 


X. 

A  MOEE  EXCELLENT  WAY. 


But  covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts.     And  yet  shew  I  unto  you  a 
more  excellent  way. —  i  Cor.,  xii:  31. 

THESE  words  of  the  Apostle  have  a  backward 
and  a  forward  look.  There  is  the  way 
which  he  has  just  trodden  and  the  *'more  excel- 
lent way"  which  he  is  about  to  show.  We  must 
know  both  ways  before  we  can  estimate  the  greater 
excellency  of  the  one  over  the  other.  Searching 
into  the  chapter  at  the  very  end  of  which  are  the 
words  of  our  text,  what  do  we  find  as  its  theme  ? 
*' Now  concerning  Spiritual  gifts."  These  words 
contain  it.  Following,  step  by  step,  the  leading 
of  the  Apostle's  thought,  we  learn  that  these  men 
and  women  to  whom  he  writes  had  been  Gentile 
idolators,  much  in  the  same  condition  of  mind  and 
life  as  we  find  the  Hindoos  and  Chinese  to-day. 
But  they  had  been  changed  from  this  condition, 
had  been  converted  as  we  say,  and  were  disciples 
of  Christ.  The  Apostle  attributes  this  discipleship 
to  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  upoii 

136 


A  KOBE  EXCELLENT  WAY,  137 

their  minds.  **No  man  speaking  by  the  Holy- 
Spirit,  (under  His  influence)  calleth  Jesus  anath- 
ema, and  no  man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord 
but  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  And  that  which  was 
true  of  these  men  and  women  of  Corinth  is  equally 
true  of  us.  If  Jesus  Christ  be  Lord  to  us  we  have 
the  evidence  in  ourselves  of  having  been  and  being 
under  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  Then 
the  Apostle  proceeds  to  speak  of  spiritual  gifts, 
the  results  of  the  unseen  operation  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  as  manifested  in  the  Christian  church  of  that 
day.  There  would  naturally  be  among  new  con- 
verts a  propensity  to  assume  that  some  one  class 
of  gifts  was  orthodox  and  others  questionable. 
Perplexity  and  confusion  would  arise.  And  so 
the  Apostle  warns  them  against  '  limiting  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel.'  He  tells  them  there  are  'diversi- 
ties of  gifts,'  'differences  of  administration,'  that 
as  in  material  nature  so  in  spiritual  nature,  variety 
is  not  inconsistent  with  unity.  One  man  is  wise,  he 
has  excellent  judgment ;  another  man  seems  to 
have  an  intuitiveness  of  knowledge  ;  another  man 
has  strong  faith ;  another  the  gift  of  healing ; 
another  the  gift  of  prophecy ;  another  can  work 
miracles ;  another  discerns  spirits ;  another  has 
the  gift  of  tongues  ;  and  still  another  the  interpre- 
tation of  tongues.  Now,  we  cannot  stay  this 
morning  to  inquire  particularly  as  to  the  nature 
of  these  gifts,  how  far  they  were  the  quickening 


138  A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WAY. 

of  the  natural  by  the  intense  action  of  the  super- 
natural upon  it,  so  that  each  gift  followed  the  law 
of  the  natural  propensity  of  the  individual,  that  or 
something  else.  All  that  is  necessary  to  our  pur- 
pose is  to  point  to  the  truth  emphasized  by  the 
Apostle,  that  the  power  underneath  all,  was  the 
self-same  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  the  Sovereignty 
of  God  was  show^n  in  the  distribution  and  operation 
of  the  gifts,  *' dividing  to  every  man  severally  as 
He  will" 

The  Apostle  goes  on  to  show  that  the  diversity 
is  not  simply  consistent  with  Unity,  but  required 
in  order  to  Unity.  Oneness  is  not  unity. 
Individualism  is  not  unity.  Many  there  be  who 
contend  for  the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  but  all  the 
while  they  mean  the  Individualism  of  the  Godhead. 
Unity  comes  of  diversity.  The  Apostle  illustrates 
this  by  reference  to  the  human  body.  The  foot, 
the  hand,  the  ear,  the  e3^e,  the  members,  are  all 
different.  The  eye  cannot  hear.  The  ear  cannot 
see.  The  foot  has  no  ability  of  doing  the  work 
of  the  hand.  Every  part  has  its  own  special 
ofBce,  and  the  total  result  is  not  schism  but  unity. 
If  the  hand  were  to  put  out  the  eye  the  hand  itself 
would  be  a  loser.  Pain  in  one  part  means 
discomfort  everywhere.  Each  part  serves  every 
other  part,  and  serves  it  all  the  more  effectively 
by  being  different  from  it.  **  Whether  one  mem- 
ber suffer,  all  the  members  suffer  wdth  it ;    or  one 


A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WAT.  139 

member  be  honored  all  the  members  rejoice  with 
it."  This  is  so  in  the  material  body  which  the 
Apostle  uses  as  an  illustration  and  suggests  his 
ideal  of  a  perfect  church,  though  the  ideal  be  far 
ahead  of  present  attainment.  In  the  church  there 
are  Apostles,  but  all  are  not  apostles ;  there  are 
teachers,  but  all  men  are  not  teachers  ;  there  are 
times  of  miracle,  but  all  times  are  not  conditioned 
for  the  miraculous ;  there  are  gifts  of  healing,  but 
very  few  men  have  them,  all  do  not  speak  with 
tongues,  all  have  not  the  interpretation  of  tongues, 
and  yet  some  have.  These  are  the  gifts,  in  all 
their  manifold  variety,  all  when  genuine  and  true 
tending  towards  unity.  These  gifts  have  been  of 
great  value  to  the  church.  Those  we  differentiate 
by  the  word  'miraculous'  belong  to  times  when, 
without  some  unquestioned  sign  of  the  Divine 
presence  and  power,  men  could  not  stand  before 
the  terrific  opposition  brought  to  bear  against  them. 
There  are  ages  in  which  the  excellency  of  a  thing 
is  not  enough  to  win  acceptance  for  it,  ay,  ages  in 
which  the  more  supernal  the  excellency,  the  more 
violent  will  be  the  opposition.  In  such  ages  men 
and  their  message  have  to  be  protected  by  some 
such  aureole  of  glory  as  only  God  Himself  can 
throw  around  their  brows.  Miracles,  wonders 
and  siofns  are  not  so  much  for  the  conviction  of  the 
unbeliever  as  for  the  protection  of  the  believer. 
We  do  not  find  that  even  the  raising  of  Lazarus 


140  A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WAT. 

was  of  much,  if  any  use,  for  evangelistic  purposes. 
Men  only  deceive  themselves  when  they  assume 
that  their  disposition  Godward  would  be  changed 
by  any  visitations  from  the  world  of  spirits.  If 
there  be  anything  in  what  is  called  "  Spiritualism" 
it  is  certain  that  its  effect  has  been  all  the  other 
way.  It  has  demoralized  men  instead  of  promo- 
ting in  them  holy  character.  And  so,  while  the 
miracles  of  our  Lord  were  revelations  of  Divine 
Power  and  of  a  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  while  they 
overawed  many  unbelievers ,  they  did  not  convert 
them. 

Now,  in  these  days  of  oifrs,  we  are  often  in  a 
state  of  rebellion  because  we  cannot  command 
signs  and  wonders.  God's  promises  are  that  he 
will  come  down  *'  as  rain  upon  the  mown  grass," 
'*as  showers  that  water  the  earth,"  **  I  will  be  as 
the  dew  unto  Israel  "  a  gentle,  constant,  fructifying 
influence.  But  we  want  freshets  to  bear  away  the 
bridges,  and  make  a  loud  report.  We  have  very 
little  fiiith  in  what  our  Lord  Himself  says,  that 
"  the  Kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observa- 
tion."" We  want  Pentecost,  with  its  tongues  of 
flame,  and  its  mighty  rushing  wind,  but  are  we 
ready  for  the  outside  persecutions,  the  tortures, 
the  deaths,  the  Herodian  tyrannies  and  all  the 
terrific  opposition  which  in  the  one  direction  cor- 
responded to  Pentecost  in  the  other?  Pentecost 
was  God's  answer  to  man's  demoniac  hatred.     No 


A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WAY,  141 

men,  without  a  Pentecostal  baptism,  would  have 
dared  to  face  such  a  frowning  world  as  that  which 
glared  upon  the  Apostles.  And  when  you  and  I 
are  called  to  face  the  fires  of  martyrdom  we  shall 
have  Pentecostal  power  in  which  to  face  them.  It 
is  enough  for  all  ordinary  purposes  if  our  Lord  be 
with  us  *'as  the  dew,"  "as  the  rain,"  *' as  the 
showers  that  water  the  earth,"  if  we  live  spiritu- 
ally in  a  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  as  we  live 
Qaturally  in  a  dispensation  of  the  sunlight.  Our 
God  never  acts  arbitrarily.  Not  only  the  times 
and  the  seasons,  but  the  spiritual  proprieties  and 
necessities  of  the  times  and  seasons  are  in  His 
hand  and  under  His  sovereisrn  control.  He  sfiveth 
to  every  age  as  to  every  man,  **  severally  as  He 
will." 

And  now  I  want  that  we  should  specially  notice 
that  this  Apostle  says  there  is  ''  a  more  excellent 
way"  to  the  attainment  of  the  end  sought  by  God, 
than  this  way  of  miracle  and  wonder  and  sign. 
He  says,  "  seek  earnestly  the  best  gifts,"  but  the 
time  will  come  when  it  will  appear  that  these  gifts 
are  inferior  to  something  else.  The  time  will 
come  when  speaking  with  tongues,  gifts  of  healing, 
working  miracles,  all  these  signs  and  wonders 
will  be  seen  as  provisional  and  temporary.  In 
the  very  nature  of  things  they  cannot  be  continued. 
Their  continuation  would  make  them  common- 
place.    They  would  lose  their  uses  and  cease  to 


142  A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WAT. 

be  of  service.  That  which  God  seeks  for  man 
can  be  accomplished  when  the  world  is  ready  for 
it  by  some  agency  whose  permanency  will  not 
make  it  commonplace  —  viz.,  by  the  existence 
and  cultivation  of  that  state  of  heart  which  is 
expressed  in  the  one  word  '*  charity."  It  is  a 
very  remarkable  thing,  and  will  appear  more  and 
more  noteworthy,  the  longer  we  ponder  it,  that 
this  Apostle,  living  in  the  time  of  miracle  and 
wonder  and  sign,  and  able  to  estimate  the  exajct 
result  of  these,  should  yet  boldly  subordinate 
them,  as  evangelistic  agencies,  to  the  power  of 
Christian  charity,  giving  them  an  inferior  and 
temporary  place.  These  Pentecostal  manifesta- 
tions, for  which  we  so  often  sigh,  thinking,  in  our 
ignorance  that  if  only  we  had  them,  the  supremacy 
of  the  church  as  a  Divine  Institute  would  be 
universally  acknowledged,  and  *'a  nation  born  in 
a  day,"  St.  Paul  counts  as  provisional  and 
inadequate  to  the  ends  which,  we  assume,  they 
would  further.  We  want  something  for  the  eye, 
something  for  the  ear,  something  sensuous,  the 
Kino^dom  of  God  comins:  with  observation.  Better 
than  all  these  if  only  you  could  get  it,  says  the 
Apostle,  would  be  charity  —  that  Christian  love 
which  is  the  strongest  and  most  powerful  of  all 
Divine  creations.  ''  For  though  I  speak  with  the 
tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  and  have  not  charity, 
I  am  become  as  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cym- 


A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WAY.  143 

bals.  And  though  I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy  and 
understand  all  mysteries  and  all  knowledge  ;  and 
though  I  have  all  faith,  so  that  I  could  remove 
mountains,  (for  there  is  trememdous  energy  in 
faith)  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing."  He 
goes  further  still,  and  John  the  Baptist  like,  lays 
the  axe  to  the  root  of  the  tree. — **  Though  I 
bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  though 
I  give  my  body  to  be  burned  and  have  not  charity, 
it  profiteth  me  nothing."  This  is  startling  doctrine, 
startling,  but  undeniably  Apostolic.  A  man  may 
have  these  gifts  referred  to,  and  yet  may  fall 
short  of  having  attained  to  any  possession 
of  the  central  thing  in  Christianity,  that  which 
distinguishes  it  from  every  false  religion,  and 
every  corrupt  form  of  a  true  religion  the  world 
has  ever  known.  Men  may  have  the  energy  ol 
faith  and  very  little  if  any  charity.  What  seems 
stranger  still,  they  may  be  large  and  liberal  givers 
of  money  to  the  poor,  and  not  have  charity. 
They  may  even  go  to  the  martyr's  stake  and  not 
have  charity.  All  donations  of  money  are 
not  acts  of  charity.  All  martyr-deaths  are  not 
evidences  of  pure  love  to  God  and  love  to  man. 
Many  a  man  has  been  so  self-willed,  and  so  con- 
sumed with  passion,  so  obstinate  that  he  would  rath- 
er die  than  give  in.  Many  a  man  has  willed  away 
money  to  the  poor  simply  because  he  could  not 
hold  it  any  longer,  or  because  the  solicitation  was 


144  A  MOBE  EXCELLENT  WAY. 

too  urgent,  or  because  he  must  save  appearances, 
or  because  his  conscience  was  not  very  easy  as  to 
the  way  in  which  he  obtained  his  money.  For  as 
one  has  recently  said  in  a  published  exposition  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  when  we  pray,  <'  Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread,"  our  bread.  ''  Bread  that 
we  beg  is  not  ours  ;  bread  that  Ave  take  as  lazy 
pensioners  on  some  one  else's  bounty,  is  not  ours ; 
bread  that  we  steal  is  not  ours ;  bread  that  we  get 
from  other  people  by  %  fraud  and  extortion  and 
over-reaching  is  not  ours  ;  only  the  bread  that  we 
have  earned  by  honest  work  and  fair  traffic  is 
ours."  That  which  a  man  gives  heartily  and 
lovingly  is  perfumed  with  the  incense  of  chjirity 
—  not  that  which  he  gives  grudgingly  and  of 
necessity. 

I  dare  not  take  liberties  with  your  time,  and 
therefore  it  is  not  possible  for  me  to  enter  into 
any  adequate  analysis  as  to  what  this  charity, 
exalted  to  the  highest  place  and  to  the  grandest 
power  by  this  Apostle,  is.  All  we  can  say  about 
it  is,  that  whatever  "  suffereth  long  and  is  kind, 
whatever  envieth  not,  whatever  vaunteth  not 
itself  and  is  not  pufted  up,  whatever  doth  not  be- 
have itself  unseemly,  whatever  seeketh  not  her 
own,  and  is  not  easily  provoked,  whatever  disposi- 
tion is  in  any  of  us  to  think  good  and  not  evil, 
always  putting  us  on  the  side  of  the  best  construc- 
tion of  a  deed  and  not  the  worst,  whatever  does 


A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WAY.  145 

not  rejoice  in  iniquity,  whatever  rejoiceth  in  the 
truth,  whatever  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all 
things  (good  that  is),  hopeth  all  things,  and  en- 
dureth  all  things,"  that  is  charity.  The  opposite 
of  all  these  is  not  charity.  Charity  is  inconsistent 
with  petulance,  with  unkindness,  with  envy,  with 
boasting  and  self-conceit  and  self-importance, 
with  unseemliness  in  behavior,  w^ith  the  attribu- 
ting of  evil  motive,  with  self-seeking,  and  all 
these  ugly  and  evil  things.  A  man  may  have  zeal 
and  no  charity,  yea  faith  enough  to  be  very  ener- 
getic and  have  no  charity,  have  sundry  useful 
gifts  and  no  charity.  Charity  is  eternal,  undying, 
everlasting ;  it  never  faileth.  The  nearest  thing 
on  earth  to  it  is  a  mother's  love.  It  is  the  atmo- 
sphere of  the  society  of  Heaven.  It  is  the 
dominating  characteristic  of  redeemed,  godlike 
souls.  It  gives  a  certain  type  and  flavor  of 
character  wherever  it  exists.  It  gives  to  the  mind 
broadness  and  comprehensiveness.  It  gives  to 
the  heart  tenderness  and  loveableness.  It  is  the 
concentrated  essence  of  all  the  Evangelistic  forces 
that  have  ever  been  in  the  church  from  the  first 
day  of  its  life  to  the  day  that  now  is. 

And  if  the  Church  of  Christ  were  richly 
dowered  with  the  will  and  ability  to  tread  this 
more  excellent  way  it  would  not  need  to  sigh  for 
Pentecostal  si(/ns  and  wonders.  Its  power  would 
be  irresistible.     But  it  would   be   the   power  of 


146  A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WAT. 

life,  not  the  mechanical  power  of  any  ecclesias- 
tical instrument  that  has  ever  been  formed  or 
can  be. 

By  means  of  artificial  heat,  kindled  in  glowing 
furnaces,  with  the  frost  shut  out,  it  is  possible  to 
have  flowers  and  fruits  in  winter,  but  when  once 
the  summer  sun  pours  down  its  June  rays  no 
artificial  contrivances  are  needed.  And  so  when 
once  there  is  the  reality  of  the  religion  of  Jesus, 
the  Divine  charity  of  which  this  inspired  Apostle 
speaks,  the  excellency  of  the  way  will  be 
perceived.  Some  there  be  who  ever  cry,  "we 
want  more  faith."  But  faith,  my  brother,  cannot 
be  a  substitute  for  charity,  and  can  perenni- 
ally live  only  in  an  atmosphere  charged  with 
charity,  as  plants  in  an  atmosphere  charged 
with  oxygen. 

Others  say  we  want  more  zeal,  but  zeal  may 
be  only  like  a  galvanic  battery  moving  the  muscles 
of  a  corpse.  Charity  will  do  all  and  everything 
that  zeal  can  do,  or  that  faith  can  do,  or  that 
tongues  can  do,  or  that  even  miraculous  gifts  can 
do.  And  yet  how  few  believe  it.  But  no  man, 
without  twisting  Scripture,  can  deny  the  Aposto- 
licity  of  the  teaching. 

Who  then,  in  the  light  of  this  teaching,  are  the 
men  and  women  who  are  most  truly  representa- 
tive of  the  church  of  Christ,  who  really  embody 
its    spirit,  and    carry   forward    its    work?      The 


A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WAY,  147 

answer  can  only  be  —  they  who  have  the  charity 
of  which  the  Apostle  speaks.  Paul  and  eTohn 
were  the  greatest  apostles  because  they  were 
most  richly  dowered  with  charity. 


XI. 

THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST. 


"That  in  all  things  he  might  have  the  pre-eminence.'' — Col.^ 
i:  i8. 

NO  one  reading  the  opening  passages  of  this 
letter  of  the  great  Apostolic  letter-writer 
can  be  in  doubt  as  to  the  estimate  he  formed  of 
the  personality  of  Jesus  ;  his  mind  and  heart  are  so 
possessed  with  Him  that  all  things  in  heaven  and 
earth  are  viewed  as  having  their  interpretation  in 
Him.  The  Eternal  One  is  spoken  of  as  ''the 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  That  is 
enough  for  the  mind  of  Paul.  That  is  all  he  wants 
to  know.  All  creation  cannot  tell  as  much  of  God 
as  is  told  in  the  simple  fact  that  He  was  "  the 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  The  mind  of 
Paul  is  at  rest  as  regards  the  Divine  disposition 
towards  him.  His  awe  remains,  but  all  base  fear 
has  gone.  There  is  happiness  enough  in  this  one 
fact,  that  he  and  those  to  whom  he  wrote  had  been 
*'  delivered  out  of  the  power  of  darkness  and 
translated  into  the  Kinojdom  of  the  Son  of  his 


148 


THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST.  149 

love."  And  then  he  proceeds  to  heap  up  thought 
upon  thought  as  though  he  could  not  get  the  in- 
ward feeling  into  anything  like  adequate  utterance. 
*' In  Him  we  have  redemption,"  «' In  Him  we 
have  forgiveness  of  sins,"  ''  He  is  the  image  of 
the  invisible  God,"  He  is  "  the  first-born  of  every 
creature."  "  In  Him  were  all  things  created,  in 
the  heavens  and  upon  the  earth  —  things  visible 
and  things  invisible  —  whether  thrones  or  domin- 
ions or  principalities,  or  powers  ;  all  things  have 
been  created  unto  Him  and  through  Him  ;  He  is 
before  all  things ;  in  Him  all  things  are  held 
together. 

He  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  church,  who  is 
the  beginning,  the  first-born  from  the  dead ,  that  in 
all  things  he  might  have  the  pre-eminence.  For 
it  was  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father  that  in  Him 
should  all  the  fulness  dwell ;  and  throus^h  Him  to 
reconcile  all  things  unto  Himself,  having  made 
peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross ;  through 
Him  I  say,  whether  things  upon  the  earth  or 
things  in  the  heavens." 

I  would  like  to  ask  Paul  what  he  meant  by 
some  of  these  utterances.  It  takes  a  Paul  fully  to 
interpret  a  Paul.  But  this  much  we  may  say, 
without  any  possil)ility  of  being  in  the  wrong, 
that  to  the  Apostle  Paul  Jesus  Christ  was 
immeasurably  more  than  He  is  to  you  and  me. 
Great  natures  are  certain  to  be  the  depositaries  of 


150  THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CEBIST. 

great  ideas,  great  feelings,  great  hopes,  great 
aspirations.  Greatness  does  not  mean  bulkiness. 
It  means  the  ability  of  thinking  great  thoughts, 
letting  in  great  ideas,  following  in  the  line  of 
great  aspirations  and  doing  it  continuously  as  long 
as  life  shall  last.  It  is  a  question  whether  upon 
earth  a  greater  man  has  ever  lived  than  the  writer 
of  this  letter.  He  has  been  before  the  world,  with 
his  bundle  of  letters,  for  1800  years,  and  every 
generation  of  Christians  has  found  Him  ahead  of 
them.  I  question  whether  there  be  a  man  living 
who  can  say  as  much  about  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
same  number  of  words  as  St.  Paul  has  said  in  that 
passage  I  have  read. 

I  think,  however,  that  if  there  be  any  one 
expression  which  holds  in  it  all  the  rest,  it  is  this, 
'*  that  in  all  things  he  might  have  the  pre-emi- 
nence." Let  us  analyze  this  pre-eminence  and  see 
in  what  it  consists  ; — 

1.  He  is  pre-eminent  as  to  His  personality.  In 
the  midst  of  all  who  have  ever  been  in  this  world, 
He  stands  unique  as  to  human  character ; — leaving 
out,  for  the  moment,  all  thought  of  everything 
that  rises  above  the  human  ;  if  we  had  time  to  go 
into  a  detailed  search  after  all  the  elements  in  His 
make-up  to  which  the  word  human  could  properly 
be  applied,  we  should  be  compelled  to  say  that 
He  is  pre-eminently  human.  He  came  into  the 
world  through  the  gateway  of  the  Hebrew  nation, 


THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST,  151 

and  yet  lie  is  not  a  Jew.  He  belonged,  so  far  as 
time  could  put  a  date  upon  Him,  to  the  period  of 
1880  years  ago,  and  yet  He  is  of  no  age.  He 
spent  His  days  and  nights  under  those  insufferably 
bright  eastern  heavens,  and  yet  He  is  of  no  clime. 
As  we  study  His  character,  and  then  study  the 
records  of  character  which  have  come  down  to  us 
of  other  peoples,  w^e  are  obliged  to  confess  that  He 
gathers  up  into  Himself  all  the  best  elements  in 
Jewish  life,  in  Grecian  life,  in  Roman  life.  The 
characteristic  Hebrew  elements  were  such  as  we 
indicate  by  the  words,  *' moral"  and  "devotional." 
Grecian  life  was  elegant,  refined  and  sensuous. 
It  was  occupied  with  feelings  of  natural  beauty. 
Roman  life  was  swayed  by  ideas  of  law,  of  empire 
and  world-wide  dominion.  Your  memory  will 
furnish  3^ou  with  illustrative  passages  in  proof  of 
what  I  say  that  all  these  ideas  were  in  the  mind 
of  Jesus  Christ,  not  excluding  or  controverting 
one  another,  or  jostling  one  another,  but  holding 
fellowship  one  with  another.  They  were  there  in 
their  purest  and  best  expression.  We  need  not 
stay  upon  the  proof  that  He  was  pre-eminently 
moral  and  devotional ;  enemies  as  well  as  friends 
admit  that.  But  He  was  devotional  without  being 
formal,  and  moral  without  any  approach  to  pru- 
dishness.  But  how  about  His  gathering  up  into 
Himself  the  best  elements  in  Grecian  life  ?  Search 
and   see   how   all   things    beautiful    affect    Him. 


153  THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST. 

*' Behold  the  lilies  how  they  grow,  they  toil  not, 
neither  do  they  spin,  and  yet  I  say  unto  you  that 
even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory,  was  not  arrayed 
like  one  of  these."  His  love  for  country  scenes, 
never  once  sleeping  in  a  city ;  His  retirement  into 
the  recesses  of  nature  for  devotional  and  teaching 
purposes  ;  His  unconcealed  admiration  of  the  white 
marble  temple  which  rose  lustrous  and  massive  in 
the  midst  of  the  squalor  of  the  streets  of  Jerusa- 
lem, His  love  of  garden  beauty,  His  constant  use 
of  natural  sym])ols  to  illustrate  His  teachings, 
these  are  evidence  enough  of  His  being  in  sympa- 
thy with  all  that  was  beauteous,  a  very  Greek  for 
sensitiveness.  But  how  about  His  gathering  up 
into  Himself  all  the  best  elements  in  the  life  of 
Eome,  its  appreciation  of  law  and  rule  and  domin- 
ion ?  His  glorification  of  the  moral  law  ;  and  His 
refusal  to  utter  one  word  that  would  be  seditious, 
though  a  Csesar  was  on  the  throne.  His  ready 
payment  of  the  usual  poll-tax  when  asked  of  Him 
and  His  disciples,  these  are  sufficient  to  illustrate 
the  first.  And  but  one  quotation  is  necessary  to 
prove  the  truth  of  the  assertion  that  with  all  that 
w^as  pure  and  great  in  the  aspirations  of  Rome,  for 
Empire  and  world-wide  dominion  He  was  in 
sympathy.  AVith  Rome  it  was  the  simple  ambition 
for  power,  with  Jesus  the  aspiration  of  universal 
benevolence — a  sympathy  with  all  men  every- 
where, and  thus  a  burning  desire  to  bring  them 


THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CUBIST.  153 

under  the  rule  of  One  God  and  Father,  that  uni- 
versal brotherhood  might  be  established.  **  When 
the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  His  glory  and  all 
His  Holy  angels  with  Him,  then  shall  He  sit  upon 
the  throne  of  His  glory  and  before  Him  shall  be 
gathered  all  nations."  Thus  we  see  how  pre-emi- 
nent was  His  personality.  He  was  neither  Jew, 
nor  Greek,  nor  Eoman,  and  yet  all  that  was  dis- 
tinctive and  characteristic  in  Jew  and  Greek  and 
Eoman  w^as  illustrated  in  Him. 

2.  Then  again  he  w^as  pre-eminent  as  to  his 
ideas  of  God  and  man.  Let  me  say  that  this  is 
always  the  test  of  pre-eminence  of  nature,  large- 
ness of  idea  on  these  two  all-absorbing  themes. 
The  man  wh(i  is  pre-eminently  great  and  good, 
will  necessarily  have  the  most  ennobling  ideas 
on  these  two  themes.  And  you  may  be  very 
sure  that  the  instinct  in  our  nature  to  regard  with 
suspicion  and  distrust  the  Satanic  school  who  first 
of  all,  deprive  God  of  His  personality,  and  then 
man  of  his  spirit,  is  ingrained  and  inborn.  It  is 
the  same  kind  of  instinct  which  the  dove  has  when 
the  bird  of  prey  comes  into  sight.  If  any  one 
says  "  It  is  only  an  instinct  of  self-preservation," 
what  of  it  ?  Is  not  that  saying  a  great  deal  ?  If 
there  were  no  lust  of  sinning  in  our  nature,  and 
no  desire  to  have  doubts  enough  to  allow  us  to  do 
it  unrestrainedly,  there  is  not  an  Infidel  Lecturer 
in  the  world  who  could  pay  his  travelling  expenses 


154  THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST, 


out  of  his  earnings.  The  right  idea  of  God  is 
always  an  inspiration  to  a  good  man ;  it  is  a 
restraint,  a  fetter  on  an  evil  man.  Jesus  Christ 
came  specially  to  give  us  right  ideas  of  the  nature 
of  God  and  man.  The  idea  He  gave  us  of  God 
was  pre-eminent.  No  one  had  ever  approached 
it.  To  be  able  to  utter  it  and  live  it,  gives  this 
Jesus  a  pre-eminence  as  a  thinker  who  personal- 
ized his  own  thinking  as  no  one  else  ever  did. 
He  gave  us  an  idea  of  God  that  made  God  **  an 
absolutely  new  being  to  our  race."  There  had 
been  many  attempts  to  name  God,  to  put  the 
nature  of  God  into  a  word,  but  every  attempt  had 
fallen  short  of  this  which  Jesus  made,  and  must 
fall  short,  for  the  reason  that  it  takes  a  Jesus 
Christ  to  give  such  utterance  to  the  word 
^'  Father'^  as  shall  make  it  mean  what  it  does 
mean.  Words  are  variable  as  to  their  quality  and 
quantity,  according  to  the  quality  and  quantity  of 
the  speaker.  The  words  of  Scripture  on  your 
lips  and  mine  —  how  poverty-stricken,  compared 
w^ith  the  same  words  as  spoken  by  Jesus  of 
Nazareth !  So  much  of  religious  effort  has  been 
occupied  in  emptying  the  words  of  Jesus  of  their 
spiritual  content,  that  they  may  be  made  to  fit  the 
poverty  of  our  ideas.  "  The  thought  of  an  Eter- 
nal Father,  ruling  in  love,  through  righteousness, 
towards  lovely  and  righteous  ends — rthat  thought 
of  the  Eternal,  brooding  in  ceaseless  pity,  working 


THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST.  155 

in  untiring  energy  in  all  the  units  for  the  good 
alike  of  the  single  person  and  the  collective  race, 
that  idea  was  the  splendid  gift  of  Christ  to  man." 
There  was  never  any  such  large  idea  of  God  in  the 
world  before  Christ  came,  but  since,  such  ideas 
have  been  struggling  into  form,  and  other  ideas 
wjiich  naturally  flow  from  them,  and  now  men 
who  make  no  confesssion  of  mental  and  spiritual 
allegiance  to  Christ  are  often  found  uttering 
thoughts  which  had  no  existence  in  the  speech  of 
the  world  in  Anti-Christian  times.  Infidel  minds 
are  sometimes  found  clothed  in  raiment  of 
Christian  ideas,  and  are  innocently  unconscious 
from  whence  they  have  plagiarized  their  clothes. 
Indeed,  as  one  has  said,  *'  Christ's  idea  of  God  has 
so  entered  into  and  possessed  the  spirit  of  man 
that  he  cannot  expel  it  or  escape  from  it.  It  is 
now  His,  even  in  spite  of  Himself,  for  ever." 

Add  to  the  idea  which  Jesus  has  given  us  of  the 
nature  of  God,  His  idea  of  the  nature  of  man.  In 
the  Anti-Christian  days  the  noblest  man  among 
the  Jews  was  the  chief  of  the  Pharisees  or  the 
chief  of  the  Sadducees.  Among  the  Greeks  the 
noblest  man  was  the  most  physically  beautiful 
man,  the  Apollo  Belvidere  was  the  type  of  him. 
Among  the  Romans  the  noblest  man  was  one  of 
the  type  of  Julius  Coesar,  the  simply  strong  man, 
the  man  of  achievement,  though  in  order  to 
achieve  he  trampled  everyone  who  was  in  his  path 


156  THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST. 

in  the  dust.  How  is  it  now  in  Christian  lands? 
Under  the  influence  of  Jesus,  the  noblest  man  is 
not  simply  the  bravest  man,  but  **the  gentlest, 
the  humanest,  the  chastest,  and  the  most  charita- 
ble." It  is  a  new  idea  of  man,  and  entirely 
Christian  in  its  completeness.  This  kind  of  man 
is  man  with  the  lost  image  restored.  This  kind 
of  man  must  be  immortal,  for  the  life  of  the 
immortal  God  is  in  him.  Why  should  he  die? 
He  is  in  harmony  with  the  Universe.  Everything 
in  it  conspires  to  say  to  him,  live ;  and  to  help 
him  to  live.  And  so  the  revelation  of  Immortality 
naturally  and  necessarily  comes  with  the  emergence 
into  being  of  this  Christian  type  of  man.  It  takes 
an  immortal  spirit  to  hold  in  it  the  idea  of 
immortality. 

Take  one  or  two  other  ideas  characteristically 
Christian  which  will  help  us  to  see  how  pre-emi- 
nently Christ  Jesus  is  the  world's  greatest  thinker 
as  well  as  holiest  man.  The  idea  of  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man  ;  the  idea  that  love  of  God  is 
expressed  in  service  of  man ;  the  idea  that  the 
original  image  of  God,  though  lost  to  sight  in  so 
many,  may  be  latent  in  the  worst,  a  jewel  at  the 
centre  of  a  dung-heap; — these  are  ideas  floating 
up  and  down  the  world  to-da}^  and  wherever  they 
enter  the  soul  of  man,  entering  it  to  stay,  and 
making  men  restless  until  society  is  harmonized 
with  these  ideas.     Many  men  wilfully  refuse  to 


THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST.  157 

live  under  the  shadow  of  this  Tree  of  Life,  Jesus 
Christ,  but  unconsciously  they  are  eating  of  the 
fruit  of  the  tree.  Viewed  intellectually  as  well  as 
morally,  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  the  pre-emi- 
nence. His  ideas  of  God  and  man  are  immeasur- 
ably vaster  than  any  other  ideas  which  have  been 
flung  into  the  world's  life.  Intellectually  He  has 
the  pre-eminence. 

And  yet  once  more  He  is  pre-eminent  as  to  His 
mission  in  the  world.  No  other  ever  came  on 
such  a  mission ;  no  other  was  ever  capable  of 
entertaining  the  idea  of  it.  The  very  conception 
of  such  a  mission  puts  Him  into  the  place  of  pre- 
eminence. What  was  it?  To  bring  a  revolted 
world  back  as^ain  into  alles^iance.  Think  for  a 
moment  what  that  means.  Into  allegiance  —  into 
such  allegiance  as  is  worthy  of  God  to  accept,  and 
of  man  to  give.  Not  forced  allegiance.  Not  the 
allegiance  which  the  conqueror  gets  when  the 
commander-in-chief  on  the  other  side  delivers  up 
his  sword.  Not  simply  the  allegiance  which  the 
slave,  beggared  in  spirit  as  in  everything  else, 
gives  to  the  Master  whom  he  has  no  power  to 
resist  — No,  no  such  allegiance  is  unworthy  of 
a  God  to  receive.  Nothing  satisfies  love  but  love, 
nothing  satisfies  reason  but  that  which  is  endorsed 
by  reason,  nothing  satisfies  sincerity  but  sincerity, 
and  so  it  would  be  unworthy  of  God  to  receive 
from  man  anything  short  of  that  sincere,  reasona- 


lo8  THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST. 

ble,  intelligent,  loving  allegiance,  which  is  the  only 
true  allegiance.  But  we  need  not  complicate  the 
matter,  wherever  there  is  one  spark  of  real  love 
all  else  follows.  And  so  we  hear  our  Lord  saying 
in  justification  of  His  receiving  the  sinning  woman, 
*'Her  sins  which  are  many  are  all  forgiven  for 
she  loved  much." 

To  bring  a  world  into  this  sincere,  reasonable, 
intelligent,  loving  allegiance  towards  God  is  the 
mission  which  Jesus  the  Christ  set  Himself.  It  is 
either  the  work  of  a  God  or  of  a  madman.  But 
as  a  madman  could  never  even  conceive  of  such  a 
mission,  the  conception  in  itself  shows  the  pre- 
eminence of  the  nature  in  which  it  dwelt. 

The  accomplishment  of  this  mission  seems  to 
you  and  me  impossible.  Think  what  is  involved 
in  it.  Nay,  you  cannot.  We  often  use  the  word 
*' regeneration,"  but  we  know  not  what  it  ina- 
plies.  It  is  a  word  expressing  some  spirit- 
ual process  which  lies  out  of  the  region  of  our 
observation.  We  know  the  signs  of  it,  but  of 
the  process  we  know  nothing.  When  a  man 
adheres  through  all  temptations  and  persecutions, 
through  all  the  flatteries  of  prosperity,  and  the 
despondencies  of  adversity  to  the  Christ  of  God 
as  his  Eedeemer  and  Savior,  we  know  that  he  is 
regenerated.  When  like  Job,  he  says,  (meaning 
it),  *' though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him," 
we  know  he  is  regenerated.     But  when  and  how. 


THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CnRIST.  159 

that  we  know  not.  We  say,  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God,  because  it  is  so  revealed,  and 
because  it  must  be  by  a  power  greater  than  the 
human,  greater  than  any  power  that  man  can 
exert.  Yet  this  is  the  mission  which  this  Jesus 
has  undertaken  :  to  regenerate  the  alienated  heart 
of  manhood,  to  bring  it  in  loving,  glad  allegiance 
to  the  throne  of  God.  Knowing  what  man  is, 
knowing,  as  Solomon  said  ages  ago,  that  *'a 
brother  offended  is  harder  to  be  won  than  a  strong 
city,"  knowing  how  much  the  human  will  can 
endure  and  not  bend,  knowing  how  even  a  preju- 
dice, when  it  gets  into  a  human  spirit,  can  hold  out 
against  the  strongest  arguments,  the  most  forcible 
reasons,  the  most  persistent  acts  of  benevolence 
and  kindness — knowing  all  this,  does  it  not  seem 
more  easily  possible  to  swing  the  Universe  out  of 
its  orbit,  destroy  its  balance,  and  bring  back  chaos 
and  old  night,  than  to  accomplish  this  restoration 
to  lovin<?  alleo^iance  of  the  alienated  heart  of  man  ? 
Certainly  this  Jesus  Christ  must  see  in  the  deeps 
of  man's  nature  more  than  we  see,  and  He  must 
know  of  forces  in  the  spiritual  realm,  behind  this 
material  realm,  stronger  and  more  persuasive  than 
we  know  of.  Leaving  all  that  is  merely  specula- 
tive, we  assert  that  the  very  conception  of  such  a 
mission  puts  this  Jesus  Christ  pre-eminently  above 
all  other  men  who  have  ever  lived  on  this  earth. 
The   theme   is    only    half   finished,    not    half 


160  THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHBIST, 

indeed,  for  I  have  given  you  nothing  more  than  a 
few  suggestions,  but  I  must  leave  it.  It  is  only 
a  portrait  in  outline,  nay,  not  so  much,  only  a 
few  sketchy  strokes. 

If  only  it  helps  any  human  soul  struggling  into 
the  light,  any  soul  fighting  the  billows  of  doubt 
and  trying  to  get  to  land,  to  some  trri'a  firma  on 
which  the  foot  can  rest,  it  will  not  be  in  vain  that 
we  have  tried  to  make  it  clear  how  in  His  person- 
ality, in  the  greatness  of  His  ideas  of  God  and 
man,  and  in  His  mission  to  this  w^orld,  this  Jesus 
Christ  was  not  simply  eminent  as  many  men  have 
been,  but  emphatically  and  unapproachably 
pre-eminent.  A  theology  of  abstract  ideas  is  no 
theology  at  all.  It  is  but  the  shadow  of  a 
theology.  The  substance  is  elsewhere.  A  theol- 
ogy which  has  not  in  it,  in  the  place  of  pre-emi- 
nence, the  person,  the  ideas,  the  mission  of  Christ 
is  chaff  and  not  bread.  And  so  while  we  cannot 
measure  the  nature  of  Christ,  if  only  we  can  see 
that  He  is  pre-eminent  in  these  particulars  I  have 
specified,  we  have  enough  for  a  foundation  for  all 
the  religion  of  which  our  nature  is  capable. 

I  know  of  but  one  conspicuous  man  in  the  world 
of  literature,  the  bitterness  of  whose  malignity 
was  such  as  to  blind  his  eyes  to  all  moral  and 
spiritual  beauty  and  allow  him  to  cry  out 
'^  Ucrasez  V  infame^'  —  Crush  the  wretch.  If 
that  man  lives  on  in  eternity  no  other  punishment 


THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST.  161 

could  surely  be  asked  by  his  bitterest  enemy  than 
that  it  should  be  for  ever  remembered  that  he 
used  those  words  in  writing  of  Jesus  the  Christ. 

Other  great  sceptics  have  seen  the  pre-eminence 
and  have  acknowledged  it ;  as  though  God 
employed  one  sceptic  to  shame  another.  Even 
Eousseau,  *' that  soul  ever  floating  between  error 
and  truth,"  lost  its  hesitation,  and  with  a  hand  firm 
as  a  martyr's,  forgetting  his  age  and  his  works,  the 
philosopher  wrote  with  the  pen  of  a  theologian  a 
page  which  was  to  become  the  counterpoise  of 
Voltaire's  blasphemy,  and  concluded  it  with  words 
which  will  resound  throu^^hout  Christendom  until 
the  last  coming  of  Christ,  *'  If  the  life  and  death  of 
Socrates  be  those  of  a  saint,  the  life  and  death 
of  Jesus  Christ  are  those  of  a  God." 

Even  Napoleon  I. — the  embodiment  of  milita- 
ry ism,  the  old  Roman  back  again  in  the  Christian 
centuries,  meditating  on  men  and  things  in  the 
lonely  isle  of  St.  Helena — cannot  keep  his  mind 
off  this  man  and  His  history.  The  fallen  con- 
queror asks  one  of  the  few  companions  of  his 
captivity  if  he  could  tell  him  what  Jesus  Christ 
really  was.  The  soldier  begged  to  be  excused. 
He  had  been  too  busy  in  the  world  to  think  about 
that  question.  *'What!  you  have  been  baptized 
in  the  Catholic  church  and  cannot  tell  me  what 
Jesus  Christ  was?  Well,  then,  I  will  tell  you." 
Then  the  man  of  Austerlitz  and  Jena  began  speak- 


163  TUE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CERIST. 

ing  of  the  great  generals  and  emperors  and 
conquerors  of  the  world  and  ended  with  these 
words,  *'In  fine,  I  know  men,  and  I  say  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  not  a  man."  And  so  Goethe,  the  great 
literary  dandy  among  men  of  genius,  confesses 
Christ's  pre-eminence  when  he  says,  4' the  moral 
majesty,  the  spiritual  culture  in  the  gospels  can 
never  be  excelled."  And  so  Schiller  when  he 
names  the  religion  of  Jesus  *'the  Incarnation  of 
the  Holy ; "  and  even  Strauss  acknowledges  His 
pre-eminence  when  he  praises  Him  as  the  **  su- 
preme religious  genius  of  time;"  and  Renan  too, 
diseasedly  self-conscious  as  he  ever  is,  confesses 
that  He  merits  Divine  rank.  And  so  in  all  things, 
and  from  all  sorts  of  men,  St.  Paul's  words  have 
been  and  are  being  fulfilled,  ''that  in  all  things 
He  might  have  the  pre-eminence."  Has  He  it  in 
our  hearts  ?  Then  to  us  belongs  the  joy  that  St. 
Paul  felt  when  he  uttered  the  words  — ' '  who  hath 
delivered  us  out  of  the  power  of  darkness  and 
translated  us  into  the  Kingdom  of  the  Son  of 
His  love." 


XII. 
OUR  RELATIONSHIPS. 


"  At  the  hand  of  every  man's  brother  will  I  require  the  Kfe  of 
man — Genesis,  \y.'.  5. 

THE  subject  of  the  Inspiration  of  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  has  often  been  in 
debate.  Such  debate  every  generation  of  men 
has  to  take  part  in.  It  is  natural  for  us  to  accept 
the  teachings  of  those  who  are  in  parentage  to  us, 
natural  and  right.  So  long  as  we  are  children  we 
are  under  tutors  and  governors.  These  tutors 
and  governors  have  to  do  their  duty  by  us  accord- 
ing to  the  best  light  they  have.  But  the  inevitable 
period  of  self-assertion  comes.  We  arrive  at  the 
time  when  we  have  a  right  to  our  own  individu- 
ality. The  mind  is  conscious  of  itself.  The 
generation  ahead  of  us  has  to  endure  oftentimes 
a  disagreeable  amount  of  self-assertion.  Exam- 
ine into  thins^s  for  ourselves  we  must.  It  is  an 
anxious  time  for  those  who  have  had  the  responsi- 
bility for  us.  Our  inclination  towards  scepticism 
or  faith  will  depend  now  upon  the  moral  forces  at 

163 


164  0  UR  RELA  TIONSHIPS. 

the  back  of  us  and  in  us.  Our  opinions  will  be 
colored  by  our  sympathies.  If  there  be  in  us  a 
natural  goodness  this  period  of  debate  is  not  dan- 
gerous. Of  many  a  young  man  you  hear  it  said 
by  those  who  know  him  best,  **oh,  never  fear, 
he'll  come  out  right."  Of  others,  ^'I'm  not  so 
sure  about  him,'*  with  a  significant  shake  of  the 
head.  There  is  another  kind  of  young  man  con- 
cerning whom  not  even  so  favorable  a  view  as 
that  is  expressed.  It  is  at  this  period  of  life  that 
such  questions  as  that  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures  come  up.  And  generally  external  evi- 
dence is  thought  to  be  that  which  is  necessary  to 
prove  it.  And  so  there  is  a  great  marshalling 
of  facts  and  evidences  which  establish  the  probabil- 
ity. At  this  age  the  eye  is  not  wide  open  to  the 
internal  evidence.  It  is  not  perceived  that  that  is 
the  strongest,  and  that  without  it  all  external  evi- 
dence is  well  nigh  useless.  When  you  see  outside 
the  walls  of  a  building  a  number  of  props  to  keep 
those  walls  from  falling,  there  needs  no  other 
evidence  of  a  bad  foundation  or  wretchedly  poor 
building.  External  evidence  is  often  like  prop- 
ping up  an  ill-constructed  and  dishonestly  built 
house.  It  is  like  asking  a  young  student  to  sup- 
ply you  with  proof  that  Agassiz  was  a  great 
naturalist  or  that  Descartes  was  a  great  philoso- 
pher. Agassiz  and  Descartes  must  supply  the 
evidence  themselves  ;  no  one  else  can  do  it.     And 


0  UR  RE  LA  TIONSEIPS.  165 

SO  it  is  always.  You  cannot  prove  by  any  exter- 
nal evidence  that  Beethoven  was  a  great  composer, 
or  Homer  a  great  poet.  These  men  must  supply 
the  evidence  themselves.  And  so  you  cannot 
prove  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  by  any  ex- 
ternal process  simply.  Nor  can  you  by  any 
process  to  the  mind  not  itself  capable  of  receiving 
high  inspirations.  This  is  forgotten,  that  the 
mind  of  the  individual  must  be  itself  capable  of 
receiving  inspiration  from  that  in  which  inspira- 
tion dwells,  or  all  attempts  at  proof  are  necessarily 
defective. 

A  blind  man  can  receive  no  impulse  from  the 
verdure  of  nature,  the  blush  of  the  rose,  the  deli- 
cacy of  the  lily,  or  the  blue  of  the  sky.  A  deaf 
man  is  not  soothed  when  the  music  of  *'  Oh,  rest 
in  the  Lord,  wait  patiently  for  Him,**  ftills  upon 
the  ear.  It  finds  no  entrance  to  his  soul.  The 
*' Hallelujah  Chorus"  wakes  no  triumph  in  his 
heart.  And  so  it  is  in  relation  to  the  inspiration 
of  Scripture.  If  it  cannot  inspire  me,  move  me, 
rouse  something  in  me  into  response,  you  cannot 
prove  to  me  its  inspiration.  Now  when  I  find  a 
declaration  like  this  at  the  very  threshold  of  the 
history  of  man's  Ijfe  "  At  the  hand  of  every  man's 
brother  will  I  require  the  life  of  man,"  I  feel  the 
inspiration.  How  did  this  cosmopolitan  truth  get 
there  ?  If  it  sprung  up  out  of  the  soil  of  man's 
nature,  then  man  w^as  in  an  exceedingly  advanced 


166  0  Xm  BEL  A  TI0NSHIP8. 

spiritual  condition.  Why,  we  are  not  up  to  it 
now.  It  is  aliead  of  all  but  the  most  spiritually 
minded  Christians.  No  other  people  are  abreast 
of  it.  It  is  Pauline  in  its  character.  It  would 
not  surprise  us  to  find  it  among  the  words  of  St. 
John  in  the  ripeness  of  his  old  age.  But  to  meet 
it  in  the  early  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Genesis, — 
it  creates  somethino^  of  the  feelino:  which  arose 
in  the  heart  of  a  friend  of  mine  who  in  the  huts  of 
a  tribe  of  Maoris  in  New  Zealand  came  upon  a  face 
like  to  some  of  the  most  beautiful  he  had  seen  in 
his  native  Scotland,  and  addressing  her  found  that 
she  was  Scotch,  but  how  she  had  got  there  he 
could  not  discover.  And  here  we  find  a  Christian 
truth  of  the  most  advanced  kind  in  the  opening  of 
the  book  of  Genesis  :  a  truth  which  inspires  every 
inspirable  Christian  heart,  and  so  proves  its  own 
inspiration.  *'  At  the  hand  of  every  man's 
brother  will  I  require  the  life  of  man." 

The  terms  of  the  passage  are  too  general  to 
make  any  narrowing  of  them  down  within  family 
limits  legitimate.  They  contain  the  very  advanced 
truth  that  every  man  belongs  to  every  other  man ; 
that  there  is  but  one  great  human  family  ;  and  that 
our  action  is  not  accordinoj  to  the  will  of  God 
when  it  is  conducted  on  lines  of  exclusion. 
Whether  we  see  it  or  not  the  fact  is  everywhere 
assumed  in  Scripture,  that  that  which  is  good  for 
the  whole  humanity  is  good  for  each  member  of  it. 


0  UR  RE  LA  TIONSHIPS.  167 

Our  policy  is  to  be  broadly  sympathetic.  In 
church,  in  state,  religiously,  politically,  every- 
where. The  charge  is  put  upon  us  to  preserve 
human  life,  not  simply  our  own  individual  life, 
but  to  do  all  Ave  can  to  preserve  human  life 
everywhere.  And  this  is  every  man's  duty.  I 
beseech  you  to  notice  how  singularly  inclusive  as 
well  as  how  unlimited  the  terms  of  this  passage 
are  : —  *'  At  the  hand  of  every  man's  brother  will 
I  require  the  life  of  man  — "  I  know  not  how 
words  could  be  better  ordered  so  as  to  prevent 
any  of  us  finding  a  way  of  escape  from  their 
inclusiveness. 

"  The  life  of  man,"  what  is  it  ?  The  true  human 
life,  what  is  it?  That  which  is  fitting  and  proper 
to  you  and  me  and  all  men,  what  is  it?  Because 
that  is  the  life  we  have  to  preserve.  We  are  not 
allowed  to  live  in  the  front  of  great  human  prob- 
lems we  never  so  much  as  touch  with  the  tip  of 
our  finger.  Almighty  God  will  not  have  that.  It 
is  contrary  to  His  idea  of  man  and  His  responsi- 
bility. Whatever  occurs  in  a  community  or 
nation  we  have  some  sort  of  relation  to  it ;  we 
have  an  interest  in  it.  There  was  one  sublime 
moment  in  the  history  of  the  Koman  people  when 
one  of  their  orators  lifted  the  whole  crowd  to  a 
higher  plane  than  common  as  he  exclaimed,  "I  am 
a  man,  nothing  that  is  human  is  foreign  to  me." 
Overstepping  all  individual  interests  and  all  selfish 


168  OUR  BEL  A  TIONSniPS. 

feeling,  leaping  all  bounds  of  place  and  time,  lie 
embodied  in  that  one  sentence  the  noblest  aspira- 
tion that  had  ever  moved  in  the  heart  of  the 
noblest  Roman  citizen. 

But  how  many,  how  very  many,  even  now,  in 
these  Christian  times,  live  on  a  very  much  lower 
plane  than  that !  How  often  do  w^e  find  ourselves 
saying,  *'It's  no  concern  of  mine  whether  people 
are  this,  that,  and  the  other ;  if  only  I  can  be  let 
alone  to  do  my  own  business  and  enjoy  my  own 
life,  that  is  all  I  ask."  But  that  is  not  all  that 
God  asks ;  it  is  not  all  of  which  our  nature  is 
capable ;  and  every  man  is  accountable  to  God  for 
the  capability  within  him.  We  live  in  a  world 
indefinitely  improveable.  In  a  right  condition  of 
society  we  live  in  a  world  capable  of  supporting 
an  almost  countless  population.  Man  is  here,  even 
according  to  his  natural  endowments,  to  dress  it 
and  to  keep  it.  Society  is  capable  of  being  very 
different  from  what  it  is.  And  God  has  put 
upon  each  generation  the  responsibility  of  moving 
this  world  towards  a  completeness  never  yet  at- 
tained, towards  an  order  never  yet  reached, 
towards  a  sympathetic  co-operativeness  of  man 
with  man  never  yet  approached. 

Now,  in  this  movement  the  Christian  Church 
has  a  very  important  place  to  fill,  and  for  this 
simple  reason  that  it  is  the  Trustee  of  the  truth 
which  is  to  leaven  the  mass  of  human  opinion  and 


0  UR  RE  LA  TIONSEIPS.  169 

feeling.  If  some  one  else  is  in  possession  of  more 
advanced  truth,  let  them  give  it  us.  We  have  a 
right  to  it.  We  need  it.  It  has  not  yet  appeared 
that  anyone  has.  Much  talk  has  been  of  recent 
years  as  to  the  wonderful  change  which  is  to  pass 
over  the  lot  of  men  generally  by  the  discoveries 
of  Science.  And  it  would  be  a  very  foolish  atti- 
tude for  Christian  men  to  take, — that  of  depre- 
ciating anything  which  Science  can  do  to  improve 
the  lot  of  men.  But  Science  is  occupied  simply 
with  material  forces.  It  does  not  pretend  to  step 
beyond  them,  although  it  has  to  do  it,  but  then  it 
is  not  strictly  scientific.  Supposing  that  every- 
thing which  the  most  enthusiastic  scientific 
optimists  predict  should  come  to  pass ;  supposing 
that  our  material  life  should  have  everything 
provided  to  make  it  comfortable  —  what  does  it 
amount  to  ?  The  telegraph  brings  us  into  closer 
neighborhood  to  men  at  a  distance.  The  telephone 
has  a  similar  use.  The  steam-engine  transports 
us  at  a  quicker  rate  from  here  to  elsewhere.  The 
steam-ship  ploughs  the  main  in  saucy  independ- 
ence of  the  winds  without  whose  favor  sailins: 
ships  can  make  no  progress.  There  is  more  of 
movement,  more  knowledge,  more  stir,  more 
expenditure  of  nervous  energy.  The  people  who 
have  nothing  to  do  in  the  world  (so  far  as 
they  have  made  discovery)  can  move  about  the 
surface  of  this  broad  earth  more  rapidly  under  the 


170  OUB  BEL  A  TI0NSHIP8. 

delusion  that  they  are  really  doing  something. 
Facilities  for  travel  have  promoted  the  vagabond 
spirit  and  made  it  a  little  more  respectable. 

The  merchant  finds  his  customers  in  China  and 
Japan  as  well  as  at  his  own  doors.  And  has  to  ; 
for  our  very  material  progress,  this  very  inven- 
tiveness for  which  we  are  noted,  is  multiplying 
our  difficulties.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States  has  just  told  us  in  his  report 
that  our  manufactures  can  thrive  no  longer  by 
simply  supplying  the  home  market.  *'We  can 
produce  much  more  and  much  faster  than  we  can 
consume  :  the  existing  iron,  woolen,  and  cotton 
mills  w^ould  meet  in  six  months,  perhaps  in  a 
shorter  time,  all  our  home  demands."  Our  fields 
grow  more  wheat,  and  produce  more  corn,  than  we 
can  sell ;  our  factories  make  more  clothes  than 
we  can  wear ;  our  cattle  yield  more  meat  than  we 
can  eat.  And  yet  we  are  not  content,  far  from  it, 
our  discontent  grows  wdth  our  abundance.  We 
are  verifying  on  a  large  scale  the  truth  of  the 
words  that  ' '  a  man's  life  does  not  consist  in  the 
abundance  of  the  things  which  he  possesses."  We 
need  something  else  than  material  prosperity,  to 
make  material  prosperity  a  blessing. 

It  becomes  us  to  make  a  calm  estimate  of  what 
science  can  do  for  us  ;  to  note  its  limitations,  and 
how  soon  we  reach  them.  It  may  give  us  houses 
in  which  we  can  get  ventilation  without  draughts, 


0  UR  EEL  A  TIONSniPS.  171 

a  temperature  that  is  comfortable  without  being 
enfeebling  ;  it  may  attend  properly  to  all  sanitary 
matters  ;  it  may  even  keep  us  from  being  made 
universally  dyspeptic  by  wholesale  adulteration  of 
that  which  we  eat  and  drink,  though  that  seems 
very  far  off.  For,  in  regard  to  obtaining  these 
things  on  which  our  physical  health  depends, 
perfectly  free  from  everything  that  is  deleterious, 
we  are  almost  under  the  necessity  of  doing  as  he 
was  advised  to  do  who  asked  a  Portugese  wine 
grower  how  he  was  to  obtain  in  his  cellars  in 
England  a  cask  of  pure  Port  wine.  Said  the  man, 
**  I  would  advise  you  to  come  here  and  see  the 
grapes  grow  ;  and  watch  them  in  every  stage  until 
their  juice  is  in  the  cask :  then  to  keep  your  eye 
on  that  identical  cask  marked  with  your  own  mark, 
and  never  for  a  moment  allow  it  out  of  your  sight 
until  you  deposit  it  in  your  cellar.  I  know  no 
other  way  than  that."  So  much  of  our  misery 
comes  from  physical  causes  that  in  speaking  of 
the  ''life  of  man"  it  is  necessary  to  recognize 
them,  and  our  own  relation  to  the  causes  of  much 
of  the  misery  of  this  human  race.  No  man  but 
he  who  is  blind  in  perception  and  judgment  can 
close  his  eyes  to  the  fact  that  so  very  many  of  our 
miseries  come  from  causes  over  which  w^e  have 
control,  and  it  is  our  duty,  as  servants  of  God  and 
as  being  charged  with  the  responsibility  referred 
to  in  the  text,  to  remove  them  if  we  can.     Let  us 


172  OUR  RELATIONSHIPS. 

welcome  all  that  science  can  do  for  us,  but  let  us 
remember  that  its  limits  are  soon  reached,  and 
this  also,  that  neither  science  nor  anything  else  is 
of  any  use  to  those  who  are  too  ignorant  or  too 
indolent  to  use  it.  There  are  men  within  one 
hundred  miles  of  this  place  who  have  built  into 
their  houses  everything  which  the  latest  knowledge 
supplies ;  who  can  command  the  most  scientific 
physicians  in  the  land,  who  can  have  everything 
that  money  can  buy,  and  yet  there  is  many  a 
laboring  man  earning  his  few  dollars  a  week  who 
is  both  healthier  and  happier  than  they  are.  It  is 
little  better  than  sheer  nonsense  to  talk  of  science 
supplying  everj^thing  that  our  life  needs  to  make 
it  comfortable.  Ko  life  ever  yields  comfort  to  its 
possessor,  until  it  is  conformed  to  the  idea  which 
He  had  for  it  who  originally  gave  it.  Everything 
has  its  state  of  fixity  and  there  is  no  content  and 
no  satisfaction  until  that  state  is  reached.  This  is 
specially  and  emphatically  true  of  the  life  of  man. 
We  are  members  of  a  great  human  race  in  every 
one  of  whom  there  is  the  feeling  of  something 
attainable  which  has  not  yet  been  attained.  As 
to  what  the  something  is  there  is  endless  diversity 
of  opinion.  But  when  the  Apostle  says,  *'The 
whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  together  in 
pain  until  now,"  he  recognizes  the  inward  life  of 
man  seeking  after  something  not  yet  reached. 
And  this  is  not  true  alone   of  the  ungodly,  it  is 


0  UB  RELATIONSHIPS.  173 

true  also  of  the  godly,  *' And  not  only  they  but 
we  ourselves  also  who  have  received  the  first  fruits 
of  the  Spirit  even  we  ourselves  groan  within 
ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption."  And  yet, 
in  another  place,  speaking  of  himself  alone,  he 
says,  '*Not  as  though  I  had  already  attained, 
either  were  already  perfect,  but  I  follow  after  if 
that  I  may  apprehend  that  for  which  I  am  appre- 
hended of  Christ  Jesus."  The  Biblical  view  of 
life  is  very  much  higher  than  the  man  of  the 
world's  view,  or  the  moral  view,  or  the  scientific 
view.  Says  Froude,  speaking  of  Carlyle  —  these 
lines  were  often  on  his  lips  to  the  end  of  his  life  : 

"It  is  an  old  belief 

That  on  some  solemn  shore, 
Beyond  the  sphere  of  grief, 

Dear  friends  shall  meet  once  more: 

Beyond  the  sphere  of  time. 

And  sin  and  fate's  control. 
Serene  in  changeless  prime 

Of  body  and  of  soul 

That  creed  I  fain  would  keep. 

This  hope  I'll  not  forego; 
Eternal  be  the  sleep 

If  not  to  waken  so." 

Now  the  church  has  something  more  to  do  than 
to  take  care  of  itself.  Very  little  good  can  it  do 
on  the  principle  of  simply  caring  for  itself.  It 
has  to  sound  in  the  ear  of  humanity,  of  men  every- 


174  OUn  RE  LA  TI0NSHIP8. 

where,  the  truth  that  is  in  these  words,  **  At  the 
hand  of  every  man's  brother  w41l  I  require  the 
life  of  man."  It  has  to  illustrate  by  its  spirit  and 
temper  and  by  its  deeds  this  fact  —  that  all  men 
belong  to  all  other  men.  Missionary  it  must  be 
or  die.  When  Israel  of  old,  elected  to  a  hio:h 
service  to  the  world,  fell  below  the  level  of  its 
calling — then  said  the  Apostle,  and  he  but  spake 
the  mind  of  God,  **Lo  !  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles." 
The  doctrine  of  election,  about  which  there  has 
been  so  much  needless  wrangle,  does  not  refer  to 
personal  salvation.  It  has  nothing  to  do  with 
that.  It  refers  to  a  service,  to  a  purpose,  to  a 
mission.  The  people  of  Israel  were  elected  to 
a  special  dignity  and  mission  to  the  whole  world. 
They  fell  below  it.  They  did  not  *'make  their 
calling  and  election  sure  ;"  then  the  mission  was 
put  into  other  hands.  And  every  nation  has  had 
some  special  mission  to  the  world.  When  it  has 
fallen  below  it,  then  its  period  of  decay  has  begun 
and  it  has  hurried  to  its  doom.  It  is  so  of  the 
church  of  Christ.  That  church  has  to  declare 
God's  ideas,  God's  favor,  God's  will  to  the  world 
as  these  have  come  to  us  in  Jesus.  It  has  to  live 
those  ideas  before  the  world  and  thus  gradually 
but  surely  renew  the  world.  It  is  to  be  the  leaven 
in  the  meal.  It  must  be  that  every  man  is 
accountable  for  the  right  use  of  the  noblest  ideas 
which  ever  came  into  his  soul.     Quench  them  he 


0  UR  BEL  A  TIONSHIPS.  175 

must  not.  Stifle  them  he  must  not.  He  must 
nourish  them  into  growth,  or  his  soul  will  be  a 
graveyard  in  which  are  buried  the  murdered  inno- 
cents which  would  have  grown  into  manhood  but 
for  the  strangling  hand  of  his  scepticism.  And 
so,  while  I  speak  of  the  Church  as  the  collective 
of  all  God-inspired  souls,  I  beseech  you  to  note 
that  in  our  text  there  is  no  absorption  of  the  indi- 
vidual into  the  mass.  *'At  the  hand  of  every 
man's  brother  will  I  require  the  life  of  man." 
The  whole  life  of  man  concerns  each  of  us — all  of 
us.  That  is  the  truth  at  the  base  of  universal 
suffrage.  We  are  responsible  for  the  high  or  low 
tone  of  the  life  of  man  in  the  community  in  which 
we  live,  in  the  town,  in  the  city,  in  the  state,  in 
the  nation.  "At  the  hand  of  every  man's  brother 
will  I  require  the  life  of  man."  Why,  says  one, 
should  I  be  punished  for  what  another  man  does  ? 
Because  we  are  all  partakers  of  one  life,  and  are 
related,  and  are  a  family,  and  the  law  is  that  if 
one  member  suffer  all  the  members  shall  suffer 
with  it.  And  so,  if  there  be  small-pox  in  the  poor 
streets,  you  who  live  in  the  better  streets  begin  to 
be  concerned,  you  don't  ask  what  have  I  to  do 
with  that  man's  small-pox?  You  say  to  the 
authorities,  *'Get  the  man  off  to  the  hospital; 
disinfect  his  house.  Go  in  and  do  it."  But  Avhat 
right  have  you  to  enter  that  man's  house  and  haul 
him  away  to  the  hospital  ?     What  right  have  you 


176  OTTR  BEL  A  TIONSHIPS. 

to  send  the  health  officer  with  his  disinfectant? 
You  see,  your  doctrine  of  individualism  breaks 
down  in  presence  of  a  contagious  and  desolating 
disease,  and  very  properly  so.  But  is  it  not  a 
miserable  confession  to  make,  that  we  have  to 
learn  the  doctrine  of  our  relationship  to  others 
on  the  lowest  side  of  it,  because  we  will  not  recog- 
nize it  on  its  highest  side?  Now,  while  we  really 
do  more  as  churches  than  is  done  by  the  un- 
churched in  the  community  in  regard  to  the  men 
and  women  who  are,  through  ignorance  and 
shiftlessness,  at  a  great  disadvantage,  yet  as 
churches,  we  are  apt  to  separate  between  the  ma- 
terial and  the  spiritual  and  to  say,  ''Our  work  is 
spiritual  not  material."  But  how  can  3^ou  separate 
these  ?  You  never  saw  a  man's  body  walking  on 
one  side  of  the  street  while  his  spirit  was  w  alking 
on  the  other  side.  Soul  and  body  are  so  closely 
married  in  this  life  that  no  one  can  divorce  them. 
They  act  and  react  on  each  other.  Organization 
does  not  produce  life  ; — life  produces  organiza- 
tion. We  cannot  separate  the  material  and  the 
spiritual.  The  life  of  man  is  too  much  of  a  unit 
to  allow  us  to  do  that.  And,  says  the  Almighty 
One,  *'  At  the  hand  of  every  man's  brother  will  I 
require  the  life  of  man."  We  are  parts  of  a  na- 
tion's life.  All  its  questions  are  our  questions. 
All  its  struggles  are  our  struggles.  All  its  fail- 
ures are  our   failures,  all   its   triumphs   are   our 


0  UB  RE  LA  TION SHIPS.  177 

triumphs.  Not  till  the  regenerated  brotherhood 
of  the  Church  rises  above  its  sectisms  and  boldly 
puts  itself  in  the  fore-front  of  the  nation's  life  as 
the  truthteller,  the  Evangelizer,  claiming  the  life 
of  man  for  Christ  and  testing  everything  by  the 
principles  of  life  He  has  given  us,  does  it  do  its 
duty  or  fulfill  its  mission.  Of  course,  a  man 
begins  with  his  individual  wants,  but  the  man  who 
takes  no  interest  in  any  one  but  himself,  and  even 
when  he  is  voting  his  vote  on  a  great  national 
occasion  is  still  voting  for  self,  regardless  of  the 
great  life  of  man,  is  a  man  not  affiliated  to  the 
cause  of  Christ  in  the  world  and  his  end  is  defeat. 
But  *'our  Father  hears  the  man  who  cries  to 
Him,  however  clumsily,  for  light  and  strength 
to  do  his  duty.  He  may  be  utterly  puzzled,  utter- 
ly downhearted  ;  utterly  hopeless  ;  but  in  acting  on 
the  higher  plane  introduced  to  us  in  this  text,  he 
is  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire. 
God  meets  his  willingness  and  endows  him  with 
power.  He  begins  to  have  a  right  judgment :  to 
see  clearly  what  he  ought  to  do,  and  how  to  do  it. 
He  grows  more  clear-sighted,  more  prompt,  more 
steady  than  he  has  ever  been  before.  And  there 
comes  a  fire  into  his  heart  such  as  he  never  had 
before,  a  spirit  and  a  determination  which  nothing 
can  daunt  or  break,  which  makes  him  bold,  cheer- 
ful, earnest  in  the  face  of  the  anxiety  and  danger 
which  would,  at  any  other  time,  have  broken  his 


178  0  JJR  BEL  A  TI0N8HIPS. 

heart.  The  man  is  lifted  up  above  his  former 
self,  and  carried  on  through  his  work,  he  hardly 
knows  how,  till  he  succeeds  nobly,  or  if  he  fails, 
fails  nobly." 

But  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  meet- 
ing His  willingness,  makes  him  to  see  and  feel  that 
he  is  allied  to  the  life  of  man.  And  he  acts  from 
a  higher  view  and  on  a  broader  plane  of  things 
than  before.  He  hardly  knows  himself  again. 
Seeing  farther,  feeling  more  deeply,  life  enlarges 
to  his  vision,  and  you  hear  him  hymning  this 
glorious  petition :  — 

"  Father,  bear  the  prayer  we  offer. 

Not  for  ease  that  prayer  shall  be. 

But  for  strength,  that  we  may  ever 

Live  our  lives  courageously." 

• 

To  save  life,  not  to  destroy  it,  is  thenceforth 
his  aim,  and  whatever  the  line  he  take,  whatever 
the  work  he  do,  according  to  his  possessions,  his 
opportunity,  his  talent,  he  realizes  a  blessedness 
unknown  before,  and  to  such  an  one  there  is  no 
harrassing  rebuke  ever  tormenting  his  soul  even 
in  words  like  these,  '*  At  the  hand  of  every  man's 
brother  will  I  require  the  life  of  man." 


XIII. 
THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL, 


But  I  say  unto  you,  my  friends,  Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill 
the  body,  and  after  that,  have  no  more  that  they  can  do. —  Luke^ 
xii :  4. 

IN  those  times  when  the  air  is  full  of  war  and 
rumors  of  war,  *'  distress  of  nations  with 
perplexity, —  the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring,  men's 
hearts  failing  them  for  fear,"  —  in  such  times  men 
have  to  seek  out  some  truth  which  shall  help  to 
steady  the  mind  and  keep  it  hopeful.  For  no 
man  but  he  who  is  heartless  can  keep  himself  from 
shuddering  at  the  idea  of  warfare,  wholesale 
carnage,  men  mown  down  by  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands, wives  turned  into  widows,  children  made 
fatherless,  mothers  left  to  mourn  their  only  sons, 
the  tender  humanities  of  life  ruthlessly  trodden 
under  foot,  the  hard  earned  money  of  the  people 
compulsorily  exacted  from  them  and  spent  for  the 
direst  purposes  man  knows,  in  doing  devil's  work, 
not  the  work  of  God.  All  this  is  terrible  to  look 
at  and  think  of.     How  should  we  view  it  if  we 

179 


180  THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL. 

were  introduced  to  it  for  the  first  time  ?  If  the 
history  of  man  had  not  been  one  of  warfare,  if 
now  the  idea  and  the  purpose  of  it  were  suddenly 
sprung  upon  us,  what  a  howl  of  indignation  there 
would  be  from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the  other 
against  any  one  of  any  nationality  who  should 
propose  to  use  Intellect  and  Science  in  preparing 
means  and  methods  for  man's  destruction  !  In  our 
unimpassioned  moments  we  are  all,  surely,  on 
the  side  of  un warlike  statesmen,  men  who  on 
their  shoulders  have  the  heaviest  kind  of  respon- 
sibility, men  who  will  do  anj^thing  and  every- 
thing that  can  be  done  rather  than  draw  the 
sword.  Such  men  have  oftentimes  to  hear  them- 
selves charged  with  vacillation,  cowardice,  want 
of  heroism,  and  I  know  not  what  else,  but  if  you 
or  I  were  in  the  place  of  such  a  man  should  we  not 
do  everything  doable  to  make  war  impossible, 
and  if  we  failed,  to  make  it  on  behalf  of  those  who 
were  responsible  for  the  failure  criminal.  In  our 
day  there  are  so  many  commercial  interests  which 
make  a  pecuniary  profit  out  of  war.  These  are 
clamorous  all  the  time.  Men  who  deal  in  money 
on  stock-exchanges  are  clamorous  too.  And  the 
newspapers,  through  which  we  get  our  information, 
have  a  pecuniary  interest  in  war.  These  clamor- 
ous interests  make  it  extremely  difficult  for 
statesmen,  who  are  at  heart  peace-makers,  to  get 
a  fair  hearing  or  fair-play. 


THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL.  181 

One  of  the  blessings  for  which  we  cannot  be  too 
grateful,  is  that  this  continent  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific  is  not  to  be  split  up  into  rival 
nationalities,  jealous  of  each  others'  power  and 
progress,  preyed  upon  by  treacherous  diplomats 
in  league  with  professional  soldiers  who  can  get 
promotion  only  through  war.  The  division 
between  North  and  South  would  have  been  the 
open  gateway  to  the  introduction  of  all  the  old 
world  evils  to  this  continent.  The  perpetuation 
of  the  Union  meant  very  much  more  than  the 
perpetuation  of  the  American  idea,  it  meant  the 
exclusion  of  the  Italian  and  Spanish  Machiavellian 
idea,  the  exclusion  of  the  German  imperial  idea, 
the  exclusion  of  the  Eussian  autocratic  idea,  that 
the  country  is  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  interests  of 
the  Czar,  the  exclusion  of  the  English  aristocratic 
idea  that  God  made  the  many  for  the  sake  of  the 
few,  all  these  ideas  would  have  got  footing  and 
power  and  permanency  here  if  the  South  had  been 
allowed  to  assert  and  establish  its  independence. 
JVbw,  the  whole  force  of  the  national  mind  can  be 
turned  toward  internal  improvements,  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  people  generally  and  how  to  elevate  it. 
The  professional  soldier  becomes  only  a  superior 
kind  of  policeman,  the  defender  of  personal 
liberty  not  the  assailant  of  any  one,  as  such  to  be 
respected  and  honored.  We  ask,  however,  will 
the  time  never  come  when  the  professional  soldier 


182  THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL. 

shall  be  the  soldier  of  Conscience  and  of  Civiliza- 
tion and  thus  the  embodiment  of  the  Old  Chivalry? 
Will  he  never  be  the  man  who  prevents  instead 
of  foments  war?  Will  the  time  never  come  w^hen 
Christianity  shall  have  conquered  the  militaryism 
of  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world,  and  when 
there  shall  among  those  nations  be  a  holy  league 
and  covenant  to  prevent  war?  When  a  dog 
becomes  mad  everybody  in  the  region  is  interested 
in  preventing  his  biting  men,  women  and  children. 
And  when  a  nation  is  suddenly  seized  with  the 
war  frenzy,  all  other  nations  should  combine 
against  it.  There  is  no  other  way  to  make  war 
the  disgraceful  and  hateful  thing  it  is.  Despots, 
using  huge  armies  for  the  avenging  their  own 
private  quarrels  with  other  despots,  or  for  the 
promoting  their  own  insatiable  ambition,  or  for 
the  creating  interests  outside  the  nation  for  the 
sake  of  calling  off  attention  from  the  deplorable 
condition  of  things  inside,  these  men  should 
be  given  to  understand  that  they  have  had  their 
day,  and  for  humanity's  sake,  must  cease  to  be. 

The  New  Testament  is  remarkable  for  its  brief 
recognition  of  all  the  facts  of  life  and  its  sugges- 
tions as  brief,  and  effective,  of  thoughts  which 
should  brino^  some  deo^ree  of  comfort  even  in  the 
presence  of  the  direst  difficulties  and  the  most 
doleful  degradations.  While  we  cannot  undertake 
to  give  anything  that  could  be  called  an  exhaus- 


THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL.  183 

tive  interpretation  of  this  text  to  which  our 
attention  is  called,  yet  it  introduces  to  us  certain 
ideas  which  may,  in  times  of  trouble,  be  of  some 
help  and  comfort  to  us. 

The  first  of  these  ideas  is  this — that  there  is  a 
limit  to  the  power  of  evil.  ^'Fear  not  them 
which  kill  the  body,  and  after  that  have  no  more 
that  they  can  do."  It  would  appear  to  us  in  those 
moments  in  which  we  are  most  sympathetic,  that 
there  is  nothinof  more  diabolical  than  war.  It  has 
been  characterized  as  the  sum  of  all  human  vil- 
lainies. Any  form  of  government  which  makes 
war  easy  is  condemned  as  in  itself  evil.  No  other 
word  need  be  said.  No  apology  for  it  ought  for  a 
moment  to  be  listened  to.  Abolish  it ;  for  hu- 
manity's sake,  abolish  it.  That  form  of  govern- 
ment which  in  the  nature  of  the  case  is  most 
pacific,  is  the  form  which  a  God  of  Love  must 
mean  to  exist.  But  even  war  is  not  the  worst  of 
evils.  It  would  be  better  for  men  to  go  to  war 
bclie*ring  that  they  were  doing  something  thereby 
for  God  and  His  Kingdom,  than  to  have  perpetual 
peace  with  no  belief  in  God  at  all,  just  as  it  is 
better  for  a  man  to  die  in  doins:  somethin":  that 
calls  out  the  fulness  of  his  life  than  for  his  powers 
to  rot  in  indolence.  That  which  Divine  Provi- 
dence permits  here  on  this  earth,  is  a  part  of  the 
condition  of  human  freedom.  It  is  part  of 
the  discipline  of  life.     But  there  is  a  limit  even  to 


184  THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL. 

the  worst  things  that  a  man  can  do.  When  he 
murders  me  he  comes  to  the  limit  of  his  ability. 
He  releases  my  soul  from  its  fetters,  he  unbinds 
me  from  this  earth,  he  hurries  me  into  the  spirit- 
ual world.  It  is  an  immense  thing  to  do  for  me  ; 
it  may  be,  as  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  a 
great  blessing  conferred  ;  as  far  as  the  doer  of  the 
deed  is  concerned  it  must  be  the  weightiest  curse, 
for  he  has  done  his  worst  on  me. 

The  Christian  view  of  death  does  not  make 
murder  any  the  less  of  a  crime,  it  does  nothing  to 
justify  war,  but  it  does  a  great  deal  to  relieve  our 
minds  when  we  think  upon  Divine  Providence. 
What  meditative  mind  is  there  that  has  not  been 
on  the  edge  of  disbelief  in  a  Divine  Providence  in 
times  of  dire  calamity,  when  human  life  seemed  so 
cheap  as  almost  to  be  Avorthless,  blood  poured  out 
like  water,  and  for  what?  To  gratify  human 
ambition,  to  avenge  some  fancied  injury  or  slight, 
even  to  help  depopulate  a  country  because  of 
angry  growlings  arising  from  internal  discontent. 
Nine-tenths  of  the  wars  of  the  world  have  been 
criminal.  They  have»  been  wars  which  have  left 
nations  sadder,  poorer,  more  demoralized,  than 
when  they  began.  They  have  left  behind  them 
no  stable  government,  no  freed  slaves,  no  possibil-r 
ities  of  improvement,  nothing  of  any  value.  And 
when  we  think  of  such  wars  and  the  men  who  are 
responsible  for  them,  we  can  hardly  refrain  from 


THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL.  185 

thankino:  God  for  tho  words,  *' After  death  the 
judgment."  No  moral  order  could  eternally  exist 
in  a  universe  in  which  such  monstrosities  and  such 
monsters  were  not  punished.  And  yet,  looking 
all  the  facts  of  life  full  in  the  face,  sympathizing 
as  none  other  ever  did  with  the  myriads  of  torn 
and  bleeding  hearts  which  war  has  rent  and 
broken,  our  Lord  could  say  to  us,  *'Fear  not 
them  which  kill  the  body  and  after  that  have  no 
more  that  they  can  do."  He  could  say  so  because 
He  knew  the  beyond.  He  saw  the  limit  to 
evil.  He  saw  the  line  beyond  which  it  could  not 
go.  He  was  in  the  secret  of  the  councils  of  the 
Almighty  One  who  had  said,  *'Thus  far  shalt  thou 
go  and  no  farther."  It  was  not  heartlessness 
which  spoke.  This  is  not  the  language  of  a  soul 
devoid  of  sympathy,  not  the  language  of  one  capa- 
ble of  saying,  "Let  them  go  on  with  their  wars, 
it  will  make  it  better  for  trade."  Oh,  no  ;  nothing 
of  this,  it  was  the  language  of  one  who  could 
march  straight  up  to  Calvary,  who,  hanging  there, 
refused  the  anodyne  that  would  have  lulled  His 
physical  pain,  because  He  saw  clearly  the  beyond, 
and  so,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him, 
endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame.  Have  we 
not  a  right  to  all  the  help  His  words  give  us  ? 
Nay ;  do  not  those  who  refuse  this  help,  defraud 
themselves?  It  is  impossible  in  the  present  de- 
veloped state  of  the  human  mind,  to  believe  in  a 


18G  THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL. 

Divine  providence  apart  from  the  revelation  of 
Immortality.  I  think  that  I  am  justified  in  saying 
it  is  impossible  to  believe  in  it  apart  from  the 
revelation  of  a  judgment  beyond  the  line  we  call 
death.  One  of  the  great  intellectual  arguments 
for  the  truth  of  the  Christian  doctrines  is  their 
coherence,  the  way  in  which  they  form  a  whole, 
the  way  in  which  one  necessitates  the  other.  The 
same  Holy  Spirit  which  convinces  the  mind  of 
Sin,  convinces  it  of  a  Righteousness  which  is 
absolute  and  of  a  Judijment  which  cannot  be  evaded 
or  avoided.  The  three  ideas  cohere  ;  they  tenant 
the  mind  together.  They  belong  to  one  another. 
In  this  state  of  existence  man  cannot  develop 
without  freedom,  without  a  measure  of  freedom 
which  seems  to  us  dangerous,  even,  at  times, 
appalling.  The  fact  that  a  man  should  have  the 
liberty  and  the  power  to  kill  his  fellow  man  seems 
to  us,  when  w^e  are  meditative,  dreadful.  The 
fact  that  it  should  be  possible  for  men  to  organize 
armies  for  the  express  purpose  of  wholesale 
slaughter  of  each  other  seems  more  dreadful  still. 
The  attendant  fact  that  men  should  be  so  capable 
of  deluding  themselves  as  to  assume  that  on  this 
field  of  slaughter,  virtue  and  heroism  can  be  most 
appropriately  and  conspicuously  shown,  is  astound- 
ing. And  yet  there  is  no  denial  of  the  facts.  Our 
Lord  knew  them  as  well  as  we  know  them  ;  saw 
the  battle-fields  bristling  with  bayonets ;  the  smoke 


THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL.  187 

of  their  artillery  ;  the  red  of  their  carnage  ;  heard 
the  groans  of  dying  men,  and  the  moans  of  dying 
horses,  heard  it  all,  saw  it  all,  shuddered  at  it  all, 
and  yet  He  could  calmly  say  to  us,  ''Fear  not 
them  which  kill  the  body,  and  after  that  have  no 
more  that  they  can  do."  There  is  a  limit  to  the 
power  of  evil.  It  is  not  almighty.  It  is  not  infi- 
nite. It  has  its  sphere,  and  within  that  sphere  can 
do  its  dire  work.  Murderers  may  murder  the 
body  ;  the  aggressive  military  spirit  may  take  up 
its  abode  in  nations  and  get  itself  legalized  and  be 
made  honorable  even,  but  it  is  not  of  God.  It 
may  *«  kill  the  body,  and  after  that  it  has  no  more 
that  it  can  do." 

The  second  idea,  a  still  profounder  idea,  is  this, 
that  death  is  a  rescue  from  all  evils  which  are  not 
demoniac  in  their  character.  It  seems  to  me  quite 
impossible  to  read  the  New  Testament  with  that 
attention  which  it  demands  and  deserves,  and  fail 
to  notice  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  evil  spoken 
of,  that  which  belongs  to  man  as  possessing  an 
animal  nature  and  that  which  does  not  belons:  to 
him  as  of  his  own  humanity,  but  which  enters  into 
him  and  takes  possession  of  him,  that  which  we 
call  Satanic.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  possible  to 
read  the  New  Testament  references  to  evil  intelli- 
gently, unless  we  keep  this  distinction  in  mind. 
The  Church  of  Rome  has  tried  to  preserve  the 
distinction  in  the  well-known  words  '*  mortal  and 


188  THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL. 

venial  sins."  It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  the 
terms  are  well  chosen.  But  the  fact  that  such  a 
distinction  in  the  quality  of  sins  has  been  made,  is 
instructive  and  noteworthy.  Protestantism  has 
often  spoken  of  sins  of  infirmity,  and  sins  of  will. 
In  the  one  case  a  man  errs  not  meaning  to  err,  he 
sins  not  meanin^:  to  rebsl  a2:ainst  God.  The  roots 
of  his  sin  are  in  his  ignorance,  in  his  non-percep- 
tion of  the  nature  of  certain  acts.  Some  sins  are 
fallen  virtues.  But  other  sins  have  no  affinity 
with  virtues.  They  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
take  possession  of  the  inner  spirit  and  dry  up  the 
very  springs  of  repentance.  In  such  a  case  a 
man's  heart  never  melts  into  sorrow  and  his  lips 
never  utter  the  word  of  contrition.  Our  humanity 
when  it  is  Christianized  readily  recognizes  that 
some  sinners  are  more  to  be  pitied  than  blamed. 
Now,  from  all  sins  of  this  class  and  from  the  evils 
they  bring,  death  will  come  as  a  rescue.  That 
part  of  the  man  in  which  the  inherited  tendencies  to 
these  sins  reside  will  drop  away.  The  soul  enters 
into  new  surroundings  and  conditions.  That 
which  injures  and  tends  to  kill  the  body  may  still 
leave  the  soul,  if  not  unstained,  yet  not  separated 
from  God.  The  man  who  has  never  meant  to  be 
a  God-defier  and  hater,  who  has  never  meant  to 
injure  his  neighbor,  must  be  of  a  different  quality, 
whatever  his  natural  infirmities,  from  the  man 
who  has  been  both  a  God-defier  and  a  man-hater. 


THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL.  189 

Those  who  fear  not  God,  nor  regard  man,  are  in  a 
condition  far  more  hopeless  than  many  whose  sins 
are  more  outspoken  in  their  gliaracter.  Search 
into  our  Lord's  life,  notice  how  He  speaks  as  he 
comes  into  contact  with  different  types  of  sinners, 
how  pitiful  he  is  towards  one  class,  how  full  of 
insuppressible  indignation  in  the  presence  of 
others,  a  holy  defiance  trembles  in  His  tones  —  what 
is  the  meaning  of  this  destinction  ?  In  the  one 
case  he  meets  sin  which  is  almost  all  infirmity,  in 
the  other  case  sin,  calling  itself  virtue,  whose  core 
is  unrepenting  malignity.  In  the  one  case  he  is 
the  physician  to  human  helplessness,  in  the  other 
case  he  confronts  that  kingdom  whose  darkness 
enters  into  the  very  spirit  of  man  destroying  faith 
and  hope.  In  the  one  case  he  touches  the  sin 
which  belongs  to  fallen  humanity,  in  the  other  he 
finds  men  in  league  with  the  Evil  One,  acting  like 
children  of  the  devil,  and  he  came  to  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil  and  to  give  man  his  deliverance 
from  the  devil  power.  I  think  we  are  justified  in 
the  inference  that  death  indicates  the  time  of 
deliverance  from  all  evils  which  are  not  Satanic  in 
their  quality.  ' '  Fear  not  them  which  kill  the  body, 
and  after  that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do." 

The  third  idea  is — that  of  a  more  dreadful 
enemy  than  those  who  kill  the  body.  We  are,  in 
this  world,  occupied  chiefly  with  evils  which 
report   themselves   in  the   body.     Not  everyone 


190  THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL. 

recognizes  that  there  may  be  evils  more  dire  and 
dreadful  than  these,  whose  seat  is  the  soul,  deliv- 
erance from  which  w^ould  not  come  with  rescue 
from  the  conditions  which  bind  us  while  we  are  in 
this  material  bod}^  There  is  a  Personal  Power, 
says  our  Lord,  which  prompts  the  murderers  of  the 
body  to  do  their  dire  work.  That  is  the  dreadful  en- 
emy ;  you  cannot  regard  that  enemy  with  too  much 
dread  and  horror.  It  is  a  power  which  delights 
in  condemnation  and  destruction.  Its  sphere  of 
operation  is  not  confined  to  this  world.  It  has 
access  here  through  the  worst  men  and  women 
who  are  in  the  world.  They  are  the  gateway 
through  which  it  enters.  I  know  how  we  all 
shrink  from  lookins:  into  this  re«:ion.  It  is  a  dark 
and  doleful  realm.  We  seem  helpless  when  called 
upon  to  fight  an  enemy  who  works  in  the  dark. 
Even  murder  has  its  degrees  and  assassination  is 
the  meanest  form  of  murder.  An  enemy  who 
gives  you  no  chance  of  flight  or  defence  is  the 
lowest  specimen  of  an  enemy.  Now,  when  social 
reformers  plead  with  men  to  forsake  their  vices, 
they  almost  invariably  point  to  results  which  are 
of  the  earth,  earthy.  They  say  to  the  chronic 
drunkard,  look  at  the  social  disgrace  which  you 
bring  upon  yourself,  the  desolateness  of  your 
home,  the  poverty  of  your  children,  disease  lurk- 
ing in  your  blood,  and  so  on.  All  these  are 
material  results  and  possibly,  in  most  cases,  they 


THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL.  191 

are  the  only  results  which  can  be  talked  about. 
But  there  are  subtler  and  worse  results  than 
these.  Supposing  the  poverty  and  beggary  should 
be  avoided  and  the  coarser  material  results 
should  not  press  themselves  upon  the  attention,  is 
there  nothing  else  in  the  home  deplorable,  nothing 
else  in  man  still  more  deplorable  ?  Think  of  a 
woman  of  natural  nobleness  of  soul,  with  delicate 
refinement  of  taste,  and  educated  mind,  whose 
chief  pleasures  would  be  in  the  mental  and  affec- 
tional  regions,  bound  hand  and  foot  to  a  man  who 
is  a  chronic  drunkard,  and  then  conceive,  if  you 
can,  of  the  unspoken  misery  of  such  a  state.  It 
is  not  the  misery  of  wanting  bread,  or  the  misery 
of  *' looped  and  windowed  raggedness,"  but  a  far 
deeper  misery  than  that.  Then  think  again  of  the 
meanness  of  soul  which  comes  to  the  man  himself, 
of  the  loss  of  all  nobleness  and  all  real  refinement 
and  consideration  for  others ;  these,  the  moral  and 
spiritual  results,  are  far  worse  than  the  material. 
We  begin  to  touch  that  region  which  our  Lord 
opens  to  us  when  the  soul  becomes  the  prey  of  a 
malignant  power  from  which  it  cannot  rescue 
itself.  Not  that  this  is  by  any  means  the  only  or 
chief  gateway  through  which  that  malignant  power 
gets  access  to  the  soul ;  I  quote  it  only  to  show 
that  there  are  worse  evils  than  the  material  to 
which  social  reformers  point. 

These  I  have  named  are  the  dire  facts  of  life ; 


1D2  THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL. 

there  is  no  fancy  here  ;  no  invention ;  no  specula- 
tion ;  we  are  face  to  face  with  facts,  enemies  who 
kill  the  body,  men  of  the  slaughter-house,  but 
after  that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do  ;  and 
revealed  to  us  more  fully  by  Jesus  the  Christ 
than  it  was  ever  revealed  before,  a  power  whose 
aim  is  to  destroy  both  body  and  soul,  a  malignant 
power,  the  whole  of  whose  nature  and  history  we 
shall  never  know  in  this  world.  But  notice  now, 
I  beg  of  you,  what  follows ;  notice  what  is  the 
next  word  which  falls  from  our  Lord's  lips.  He 
anticipates  the  dismay  which  will  come  to  human 
hearts  as  he  utters  these  words  about  the  men 
who  kill  the  body  and  the  more  malignant  power 
which  aims  to  destroy  the  soul.  He  sees  the 
hopeless  look.  He  hears  the  groan  of  the 
sympathetic  heart.  He  notes  the  question  shaping 
itself  into  form.  Alas,  what  is  a  man  to  do  in 
such  a  world  and  in  presence  of  such  powers  of 
evil  ?  And  so,  immediately,  with  a  haste  that  seems 
like  an  abrupt  transition  from  one  subject  to 
another.  He  asks,  *' Are  not  five  sparrows  sold  for 
two  farthings,  and  not  one  of  them  is  forgotten  in 
the  sight  of  God.  But  the  very  hairs  of  your 
head  are  all  numbered.  Fear  not,  ye  are  of  more 
value  than  many  sparrows."  He  meets  all  the 
fear  and  apprehension  of  the  soul  in  presence 
of  these  appalling  facts  by  a  declaration  of  the 
minuteness  and  universality  of  the  Divine  Provi- 


THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  EVIL.  193 

dence.     Where  is  the  protection  from  this  malig- 
nant power  of  evil  ? 

Utter,  absolute  trust  in  God  —  that  is  the  refuge 
from  the  evil  and  destroying  spirit.  In  the 
presence  of  great  destructive  forces  you  feel  your 
own  insignificance.  But  you  are  not  more  insig- 
nificant than  the  birds,  are  you?  God  cares  for 
them.  You  cannot  deliver  yourself  from  these 
destructive  powers,  but  God  can  deliver  you  from 
them.  That  is  the  connection  between  one  thought 
and  the  other.  The  Providence  of  God  is  so 
deep,  so  broad,  that  it  can  allow  to  men  and 
devils  a  freedom  which  seems  appalling,  and  yet 
it  can  put  up  insurmountable  barriers  beyond 
which  these  evil  powers  cannot  go.  That  is  our 
Lord's  teaching.  And  it  is  teaching  that  every 
mind  needs,  specially  minds  that  are  imagina- 
tive, brooding,  thoughtful,  contemplative,  otherwise 
these  minds  will  relapse  into  darkness,  into 
unbelief,  into  godlessness.  Poor  Cowper  (the 
poet)  mused  and  mused  and  mused  till  he  went 
mad,  but  he  recovered  himself  and  wrote  ; —  . 

God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way 

His  wonders  to  perform; 
He  plants  his  footsteps  in  tlie  deep 

And  rides  upon  tlie  storm. 

Blind  Unbelief  is  sure  to  err, 

And  scan  liis  work  in  vain; 
God  is  His  own  interpreter, 

And  He  will  make  it  plain. 


XIY. 
FOR  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE. 


I  write  unto  you,  little  children,  because  your  sins  are  forgiven 
you  for  His  name's  sake. — i  John^  ii :   12. 

TPIIS  language  of  St.  John  is  somewhat  hazy. 
A  kind  of  mist  hangs  around  it  as  around  a 
landscape  when  the  all  but  imperceptible  golden 
veil  of  an  Indian  summer  is  thrown  over  it.  Some 
land  is  naturally  so  rich  that  it  throws  up  its  veil 
of  modest  mist  and  then  when  the  Sun  permeates 
it,  everywhere  is  a  whisper  of  color,  but  it  is  color 
which  reveals  not  conceals,  like  the  color  on  the 
peach  which  reveals  that  it  is  luscious  to  the  very 
centre.  And  so  the  mind  of  St.  John  throws  off 
its  own  enriching  atmosphere,  simply  because  it  is 
itself  so  rich  and  mellow  through  its  easy  permea- 
bleness.  The  human  love  of  Jesus  found  a  restinjr 
place  in  this  disciple's  heart,  and  in  that  fact  is  the 
secret  of  the  sweet  mysticism  of  the  Apostle. 
Each  heart  throws  off  its  own  atmosphere,  as  each 
flower  its  own  perfume.  In  the  company  of  St. 
Paul  men  would  feel  able  to  do  and  to  dare.     In 

194 


FOR  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE.  195 

that  of  St.  John  they  would  feel  the  deep  need  of 
fellowship,  of  being  in  loving  sympathy  with  each 
other  and  with  God.  Inspiration  did  not  change 
each  of  these  men  into  the  other,  it  used  that 
which  was  best  in  each  individual  and  thus  brought 
all  into  sympathetic  fellowship  with  the  Christ 
of  God. 

Living  in  the  joy  and  light  of  the  Divine  Father- 
hood, the  Apostle  John  had  come  to  regard  all  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  as  children  ;  and  as  the  beauty  of  a 
child  is  in  its  childhood,  its  littleness,  its  unassert- 
iveness,  its  dependableness,  the  Apostle  seems  to 
have  a  delight  in  speaking  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
as  little  children,  remembering  doubtless  the  little 
child  that  Jesus  took  and  set  in  the  midst  of  those 
disciples  who  were  wrangling  about  greatness  and 
place  and  position.  These  three  terms  which  he 
uses — fathers,  young  men,  little  children — are  not 
picked  up  at  random,  but  chosen  de/iberately  and 
with  design —  "  fathers  "  for  knowledge  ;  "  young 
men  "  for  strength  ;  **  little  children  "  because  of 
their  complete  dependableness.  We  must  bear 
this  in  mind  or  we  shall  perhaps  be  somewhat 
inclined  to  find  fault  with  the  Apostle  when  he 
associates  the  idea  of  sinfulness  with  little  children. 
Their  small  naughtinesses  do  not  seem  of  sufficient 
gravity  to  be  called  sins.  And  yet,  inherited 
sinfulness  of  disposition  is  at  the  root  of  most 
of  them.     But  if  we  look  carefully  at  the  form  of 


196  FOB  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE. 

this  passage  it  suggests  to  our  minds  not  a  lament 
over  sins,  but  a  congratulation  on  the  fact  of  sins 
forgiven.  * '  I  write  unto  you  because  your  sins  are 
forgiven  you  for  His  name's  sake."  The  idea  in 
the  passage  which  attracts  us  is  the  association  of 
sin  with  forgiveness,  and  specially  the  association 
of  forgiveness  with  Jesus  Christ. 

In  this  week  on  which  we  have  entered  and 
which  is  regarded  by  the  sacerdotal  churches  as 
specially  a  holy  week,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that 
there  is  anything  to  prevent  the  Evangelical 
Churches  from  approaching  Easter  day  by  the 
gateway  of  that  sacrifice  of  Himself  which  our 
Lord  made.  Indeed,  there  seems  to  be  a  kind  of 
incongruity  about  celebrating  the  Resurrection 
unless  we  first  of  all  dwell  upon  some  of  the  facts 
and  thoughts  which  made  the  Resurrection  the 
great  triumphant  centre  of  all  life.  As  we  intend, 
on  Sabbath  next,  to  turn  our  thoughts  to  the 
Resurrection  of  our  Lord,  would  it  not  be  as 
appropriate  for  us,  as  for  those  who  belong  to  the 
sacerdotal  churches,  to  make  this  week  a  time  for 
meditation  on  the  sacrificial  work  of  our  Lord  and 
its  relation  to  our  deliverance  from  sin  and  its 
consequences  ? 

He  made  a  sacrifice  of  Himself,  and  so,  in  some 
real  and  true  sense.  His  life  and  death  must  have 
been  sacrificial.  He  sacrificed  Himself  in  order 
that  we  might  have  our  human  life   preserved  to 


FOB  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE.  197 

US,  and  so  in  some  real  and  true  sense  His  life  and 
death  must  have    been  substitutionary.     And   as 
His  death  had  relation  to  the  forgiveness  of  our 
sins,  in  some  real  and  true  sense,  it  must  have  been 
expiatory.     These  three  elements,  the  expiatory, 
the    substitutionary,    the     sacrificial    must    have 
entered  into  what  our  Lord  was  and  did.     Often- 
times, I  know,  these  facts  are  stated  in  a  very 
crude  and  inadequate  way.     But  that  is  the  fault 
of  the  statement  not  of  the  fact.     There  is  a  deep 
philosophy  in  the  fact.     When  a  citizen  dons  the 
garb  of  a  soldier,  and  goes  out  to  fight  for  his 
country,  if  he  dies,  he  dies  that  some  one  else  may 
not  die,  he  sacrifices  himself  that  some  one  else 
may  live.     He    does    not   fight   his   own    private 
battle.     He  is  a  representative.     And   so  Jesus 
Christ  was  our  representative,  and  sacrificed  Him- 
self for  us.     Not  that  this  illustration  covers  the 
ground.     It  only  helps  us  to  make  a  little  pro- 
gress towards  the  place  where  we  can  see  farther 
into  this  death  of  Jesus.     But  all  our  explanations 
leave  much  unexplained,  for  we  cannot  look  into 
the  deeps  of  sin  or  the  deeps  of  life,  or  what  is 
necessary  in  order  to  God  being  just  and  the  justi- 
fier  of  Him  who  believes  in  Jesus. 

I  think  however,  that  there  is  much  of  instruc- 
tion, and  no  little  of  comfort  for  us  if  only  we  will 
try  to  see  things  as  the  Apostle  John  sees  them. 

He   acknowledges  the   dark   fact    of    sin,    the 


198  FOR  niS  NAME'S  SAKE. 

bright  fact  of  forgiveness,  and  the  brightest  of  all 
facts  —  that  forgiveness  is  based  on  the  relation 
which  Jesus  Christ  has  established  between 
Himself  and  us. 

Believino:  that  we  do  not  make  enouo^h  of  this 
brightest  of  all  bright  facts,  that  forgiveness  is 
based  on  the  relation  which  Jesus  the  Christ  has 
established  between  Himself  and  us,  I  would  ask 
you  specially  to  fix  your  attention  on  this. 

Not  that  I  mean  to  suggest  that  we  make  too 
much  of  the  dark  fact  of  sin.  On  the  contrary 
we  talk  about  it  too  much  and  think  about  it  too 
little.  If  we  had  any  deep  apprehension  of  what 
sin  is,  we  could  never  jest  about  it  as  we  do  so 
often.  We  should  feel  it  to  be  the  radical  defect 
in  our  nature,  so  radical  that  nothing  that  we 
could  do  ourselves,  if  left  to  ourselves,  could  pre- 
vent its  being  fatal.  That  shallow  theology  which 
says  *'If  only  a  man  repent  of  his  sin  it  is  all 
right "  would  not  find  much  favor  from  us.  The 
sin  of  man  is  so  radical  that  if  left  alone  he  never 
will  repent  of  it ;  for  he  will  never  see  sin  as  sin. 
He  will  see  it  only  as  defect, —  defect  excusable 
on  the  ground  that  to  err  is  human.  In  old  times 
leprosy  was  the  disease  which  stood  for  sin,  for 
the  reason  that  it  was  an  incurable  disease. 
Christ  touched  the  leper  to  show  men  that  what 
was  incurable  with  man  was  curable  with  God. 
There  was  a  world  of  suo^srestion  in  that  touch  of 


FOR  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE.  199 

Christ.  There  is  no  possibility  of  man  curing  his 
own  sin  by  his  own  repentance.  Repentance  is 
an  effect  not  a  cause.  It  is  the  effect  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  entering  a  human  spirit  and  starting  a  new 
life  in  it. 

I  do  not  mean  to  offer  any  words  that  are 
saturated  with  reproachfulness,  but  in  our  most 
thoughtful  moments  I  think  we  must,  some  of  us, 
be  surprised  at  the  pitiful  poverty  of  much  which 
passes  for  thinking  on  some  of  these  vital  themes. 
One  is  weary  of  hearing  of  secular  education  as  a 
cure  for  the  radical  sinfulness  of  man's  nature. 
I  am  sure  that  an  eloquent  w^riter  of  our  day  is 
right  on  this — that  if  the  influence  of  the  outpoured 
life  of  Christ  were  withdrawn  from  our  world, 
sins  would  not  only  increase  incalculal)ly  in  number, 
but  the  tyranny  of  sin  would  be  fearfully  aug- 
mented, and  it  would  spread  among  a  greater 
number  of  people.  Falsehood  would  become  so 
universal  as  almost  to  dissolve  society ;  and  the 
homes  of  domestic  life  would  be  turned  into  the 
wards,  either  of  a  prison  or  a  mad-house.  We 
can  not  be  in  the  company  of  an  atrocious  criminal 
without  some  feeling  of  uneasiness  and  fear. 
We  should  not  like  to  be  left  alone  with  him,  even 
if  his  chains  are  not  unfastened.  Withdraw  the 
outpoured  life  of  Christ  from  the  world  and  why 
should  not  such  men  be  the  majority  ?  Some  one 
says,  Educate,  Educate ;  Education  (of  the  mind 


200  FOB  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE. 

only  apart  from  education  of  the  heart) 
multiplies  and  magnifies  our  powers  of  sinning. 
Tiiat  refinement  adds  a  fresh  malignity.  Under 
the  power  of  the  education  of  the  intellect  only 
you  but  sharpen  the  claws  of  the  lion  and  whet 
the  fangs  of  the  tiger.  Under  the  power  of 
secular  education  only  men  may  become  more  and 
more  diabolically  and  unmixedly  bad,  until  at 
last  earth  would  be  a  hell  on  this  side  of  the  grave. 
There  would  doubtless  be  new  kinds  of  sin  and 
worse  kinds.  Education  would  provide  the 
novelty,  and  refinement  would  carry  it  into  the 
region  of  the  unnatural.  All  highly  refined  and 
luxurious  developments  of  heathenism  have  fear- 
fully illustrated  this  truth.  A  wild  barbarian  is 
like  a  beast.  His  savage  passions  are  violent  but 
intermittent,  and  his  necessities  of  sin  do  not 
appear  to  grow.  Their  circle  is  limited.  But  a 
highly-educated  sinner,  without  the  restraints  of 
religion,  is  like  a  demon.  His  sins  are  less  confined 
to  himself.  They  require  others  to  be  offered  in 
sacrifice  to  them. 

If  only  we  had  read  more  carefully  our  histories, 
the  history  of  Greece,  refined  linguistically  and  in 
regard  to  Art  beyond  anything  accomplished 
since  ;  the  history  of  Rome  with  its  legal  education, 
its  military  discipline,  its  aesthetic  training  in 
oratory  and  the  art  of  poetry,  so  that  even  now 
Horace  and  Virgil  stand  all  but  peerless  in  their 


FOR  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE.  201 

ranks,  we  should  not  too  much  exalt  education  so 
far  as  it  means  the  sharpening  of  the  intellect.  Or, 
if  we  went  to  the  Orient,  is  the  Buddhist  SiU  uned- 
ucated man?  The  subtlest-thoughted  people  in 
the  world  are  in  the  Orient.  If  you  doubt  it,  ask 
Emerson.  He  knew.  And  yet  these  educations 
produced  a  wide-spread  despair.  And  what  does 
that  mean  ?  Despair,  it  means  always  and  every- 
where, "rage,  madness,  violence,  tumult,  blood- 
shed." Verily  we  are  saved  by  hope.  But  how 
to  get  the  hope.  Hope  does  not  come  to  men 
who  need  it,  simply  by  telling  them  it  is  a  good 
thing  and  brings  brightness  into  the  soul.  Flowers 
are  good  things  and  bring  brightness  into  our 
gardens,  but  they  never  come  except  you  can  pour 
sunlight,  and  not  frosty  sunlight  either,  into  the 
beds  in  which  the  seeds  lie  slumbering.  Christ- 
ians ought  to  have  reached  an  order  of  intelligence 
which  would  restrain  them  from  giving  their 
endorsement  to  that  kind  of  thinkins:  which  seems 
to  have  something  in  it  because  it  is  so  well- 
dressed.  All  the  classics  and  mathematics  in  the 
world  cannot  touch  the  root  of  the  evil  which 
curses  man.  It  is  a  new  disposition,  a  new  heart 
which  man  needs,  and  the  outpoured  life  of  God 
in  Christ  is  necessary  to  produce  that ;  as  neces- 
sary to  produce  it  as  the  outpoured  radiance  of 
the  Sun  is  necessary  to  produce  the  fruits  of  the 
earth  by  which  our  physical  nature  is  sustained. 


202  FOR  mS  NAME'S  SAKE, 

Has  not  God  given  us  in  nature  parables  illustra- 
tive of  the  great  facts  of  spiritual  life  ?  At  times 
God  seems  to  be  at  a  great  distance  from  us,  at  so 
great  a  distance  that  we  can  live  our  life  without 
taking  Him  and  what  He  can  do  for  us  into  the 
account.  We  even  think  that  it  is  problematical 
whether  He  have  any  touch  upon  us  or  not.  We 
seem  to  live  from  earth-born  forces  and  within 
earth-born  conditions.  Ought  not  such  musings 
to  be  seen  in  their  true  nature  when  we  think  that 
we  are  really  dependent  upon  light  and  heat 
generated  ninety  millions  of  miles  from  us,  for 
every  violet  gathered  by  a  child's  hand  in  the  early 
spring-time,  for  every  blushmg  rose  in  June,  even 
for  every  common  potato  which  comes  to  our 
table.  If  it  were  not  for  that  great  furnace  ninety 
millions  of  miles  off,  our  globe  would  be  an  icicle 
glittering  in  the  semi-darkened  depths  of  space,  a 
dimly  visible  gem  on  the  sable  bosom  of  night. 
There  is  nothing  which  lives  on  the  life  generated 
within  itself.  Man  cut  off  from  the  outpoured 
radiance  of  the  Divine  Nature  would  be  as  the 
earth  cut  off  from  the  Sun.  The  man  who  curses 
God,  the  man  whose  profanity  declares  the  innate 
vulgarity  of  his  mind,  is  obliged  to  inhale  from 
God's  reservoir  of  life  the  very  breath  with  which 
to  curse  his  Maker.  In  God's  Universe  the  dis- 
tant and  the  near  are  in  fellowship,  and  so,  too,  in 
God's  spiritual  realm,  the  Kedemptive  forces  which 


FOR  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE.  203 

often  seem  far  off,  are  not  really  so.  *'I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world,"  was  no 
mere  figure  of  speech.  As  the  sunlight  enters 
into  every  flower  that  blooms  and  every  fruit  that 
ripens,  so  Christ's  life  enters  into  every  soul 
that  breathes  the  prayer,  *'  God  be  merciful  to  me 
a  sinner."  Therefore  it  is  that  the  Apostle  John 
goes  far  deeper  than  to  connect  the  forgiveness  of 
sin  with  repentance  for  sin,  he  connects  it  with 
the  relationship  we  sustain  to  Christ  and  the  rela- 
tionship He  sustains  to  us.  And  if  only  you  will 
think  of  it,  there  is  much  more  of  consolation  in 
this  fact  than  in  anything  we  can  say  about  repent- 
ance. There  is  always  room  for  doubt  as  to  the 
reality  and  sincerity  of  our  repentance.  There  is 
always  room  to  doubt  its  genuineness,  its  suffi- 
ciency, its  quality.  Will  such  repentance  as  I  can 
give  ever  satisfy  the  Divine  Holiness  ?  If  it  will 
not,  what  is  the  good  of  it  ?  What  use  to  torment 
myself  about  it?  If  I  cannot  be  sure  of  anything 
I  offer  being  the  genuine  and  right  thing,  what 
comfort  can  I  get  out  of  anything  I  do?  The 
human  mind  is  sure  to  reason  in  this  way.  If  a 
man  builds  his  house  on  the  sands  and  there  is 
nothing  beneath  but  sand,  he  will  tremble  when 
the  tempest-driven  tide  thunders  in.  All  our 
experiences,  all  our  feelings,  all  our  ideas  of 
ourselves  are  poor,  sandy  foundations  on  which 
to  build  hopes  for  Eternity.     So  long  as  a  man  is 


204  FOR  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE. 

playing  with  religion,  almost  anj^thing  that  sounds 
religious  will  do  for  him ;  but  once  let  real 
thoughtfulness  sieze  him,  once  let  him  look  into 
the  depths  of  his  own  nature  and  see  '*what  in- 
credible possibilities  of  wickedness  we  have  in  our 
souls,"  then  nothing  but  the  real  thing  will  do. 
Henceforth  his  repentances,  his  experiences,  his 
feelings,  anything  and  everything  belonging  to 
him  are  regarded  as  poor  foundations  on  which  to 
build  hopes.  He  asks — is  there  no  reason  out- 
side myself  why  God  should  forgive  my  sins  ?  All 
these  changeful  inner  experiences  are  treacherous 
as  a  quicksand.  I  want  something  that  is  not 
treacherous,  something  that  remains,  something 
that  man  cannot  take  away  from  me,  something  he 
has  not  given  me.  It  is  this  state  of  mind  to 
which  the  Apostle  John  appeals  when  he  says,  *'I 
write  unto  you  little  children  because  your  sins 
are  forgiven  you  for  His  name's  sake."  I  do  not 
for  a  single  moment  assume  that  I  have  the  vision 
to  look  into  the  profundities  of  the  Divine  and 
Human  natures  so  as  to  see  to  the  depths  of  this 
theme.  Some  one  asks — why  is  it  necessary 
that  Jesus  the  Christ  of  God  should  put  Himself 
into  the  relations  towards  us  which  have  been 
established,  in  order  that  the  Everlasting  Father 
may  forgive  sins?  Why  cannot  He  say  to  the 
sorrowing  man  "I  forgive  you,"  and  have  done 
with  it?     Well,  it  seems  to  me  there  are  reasons 


or  TH 

univer: 


FOR  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE.  205 

in  His  own  nature  ;  there  are  reasons  in  man's 
nature ;  there  are  reasons  in  the  Divine  Govern- 
ment. 

There  are  reasons  in  His  own  nature,  Wlien 
God  undertakes  io  forgive  sin  He  pledges  Himself 
to  rescue  the  forgiven  man  from  his  sin.  In  a 
word,  He  undertakes  to  regenerate  his  nature,  to 
renew  it  so  that  he  shall  eventually  live  the  unsin- 
ning  life.  And  in  order  to  that,  Jesus  Christ 
and  His  work  are  necessary. 

There  are  reasons  in  the  nature  of  man.  To 
forgive  a  sinner  and  leave  him  to  the  helplessness 
which  has  come  from  his  sin  is  only  AaZ/*  forgive- 
ness. Man  needs  to  be  brought  into  such  an 
understanding  of  God  and  into  such  a  love  of 
God  that  he  will  hate  to  sin  against  Him.  In 
order  to  that,  Christ  Jesus  and  His  sacrifice  of 
Himself  are  necessary.  Mere  words  w^ill  not  do. 
There  must  be  some  Divine  Act  which  will  stand 
unapproachable,  and  incapable  of  being  paralleled. 
Jesus  the  Christ  has  supplied  that  act. 

There  are  reasons  too  in  the  Divine  Government, 
but  we  have  not  time  tx)  state  them  beyond  saying 
that  it  must  be  made  universally  evident  that  there  is 
no  righteous  reason  for  rebellion  against  God  on 
the  part  of  any.  This  we  may  be  sure  of — that  in 
its  most  serious  moments,  w^hen  thouo^ht  surofes 
within  like  a  sea  la,shed  with  tempest,  the  heart  of 
man  must  have  from  God  something:  more  than 


206  FOR  EI8  NAME'S  SAKE, 

mere  words  to  still  the  storm.  On  Galilee's  lake 
there  is  a  boat's  crew  battling  with  tempest.  They 
can  do  nothing  with  the  winds  and  waves.  The 
gusty  howl  of  the  wind,  the  frothy  fury  of  the 
waves,  blanch  their  cheeks  and  still  their  tongues. 
But,  walking  on  the  wave,  One  comes  with  a 
quietude  which  is  itself  sublime,  and  there  is  a 
o^reat  calm.  Not  for  nothin^r  was  that  scene  «:iven 
us.  The  tumult  that  rages  within  this  human  life 
of  ours  seems  endless.  Nothing  abates  it.  Every 
age  has  its  controversies.  Every  life  has  its 
storms.  The  moan  of  the  sorrowful  and  the 
distressed,  the  whine  of  the  restless  and  dissat- 
isfied, the  demoniac  howl  of  the  bad,  are  all  heard 
—  heard  by  every  generation.  Only  the  miracu- 
lously frivolous  and  the  supernaturally  stoical  do 
not  hear  them.  Mere  words  will  not  allay  our  fears 
or  excite  our  hopes.  We  need  a  man  who  is  more 
than  man  to  come  and  walk  on  these  waves  and  say 
to  us,  ^*  That  which  is  impossible  with  man  is  pos- 
sible with  God."  And  so  Jesus  comes.  He  comes 
to  us  to  be  one  of  us.  He  comes  and  steps  into 
the  boat.  He  says,  *'  If  you  perish  I  will  perish 
with  you."  He  comes  to  put  Himself  at  our  head. 
He  comes  and  takes  on  Himself  the  responsibility 
for  our  beinsj  born  with  sinful  tendencies.  He 
says — Let  the  sin  do  its  worst  on  me,  I  will  be 
the  guilty  one,  by  identifying  myself  with  the 
guilty.     If  sin  has  any  rights  let  it  take  them  out 


FOB  ins  NAME'S  SAKE.  207 

of  me.  If  it  has  a  right  to  kill,  let  it  kill  me, 
Then^  I  will  bring  all  the  forces  of  mj  Immortal 
Being  into  operation  to  rescue  men  from  it.  As 
David  stood  for  all  Israel  in  presence  of  Goliath,  I 
will  stand  for  all  humanity.  Single-handed  I  will 
fight  its  battles.  The  Goliath  of  Sin  shall  fall 
before  me.  And  then  I  will  demand  forsriveness 
of  sin  for  all  who  are  willing  to  take  it  at  my 
hands.  And  so  it  is.  As  was  said  to  Paul  in  the 
ship,  *  God  hath  given  thee  all  who  sail  with  thee,' 
so  to  Jesus  Christ  it  can  be  said,  God  hath  given 
thee  all  for  whom  thou  didst  die.  Hence,  ''He  is 
the  Savior  of  all  men,  specially  of  those  who  be- 
lieve." Hence  St.  John's  congratulatory  words, 
"I  write  unto  you,  little  children,  because  your 
sins  are  forgiven  you,"  inasmuch  as  ye  have  re- 
pented enough  ?  No,  no.  Inasmuch  as  ye  have 
had  correct  spiritual  experiences  ?  No,  no.  Inas- 
much as  ye  are  strictly  orthodox  in  all  points  of 
theology?  No,  no.  Inasmuch  as  thero  is  a  strong 
probability  that  you  will  be  found  worthy  to 
receive  the  Divine  endorsement  at  the  last?  No, 
no — ''I  write  unto  you,  my  little  children,  because 
your  sins  are  forgiven  you  for  Ilis  name's  sake.'''' 
I  am  glad  St.  John  wrote  these  words  rather 
than  any  of  the  other  Apostles,  because  he  it  was 
who  stood  it  out  beneath  the  Cross  and  saw  what 
sin  could  do.  He  saw  it  erect  that  Cross.  He 
heard  its  vulgar  reproach,  its  mockery,  its  w^ords 


208  FOB  HIS  NAME'S  SAKE. 

of  scorn,  and  though  his  heart  must  have  been 
nigh  to  breaking,  he  endured  it.  Brave,  good, 
gentle  soul,  the  King  of  his  heart  was  there,  on 
that  Cross,  crowned  with  thorns  it  is  true,  with 
thorns  which  ''the  unsuspecting  earth  had  grown 
for  its  Creator.  They  had  grown  up  into  matted 
bushes,  and  the  sun  of  autumn  had  hardened  their 
soft  spikes  into  tough  barbs.  Perhaps  the  honey 
bees  had  come  to  these  flowers  to  extract  sweet- 
ness, and  the  restless  butterflies  had  been  attracted 
for  a  moment  by  their  aromatic  fragrance,  or  the 
birds  had  rifled  their  golden  berries  with  their 
beaks,"  but  when  the  sun,  that  had  hardened  their 
soft  spikes  into  tough  barbs,  saw  that  to  such  uses 
they  were  put,  the  very  sun  hid  his  face  in 
despair,  and  there  w^as  darkness  over  all  the  land 
from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  hour.  Crowned  with 
thorns,  but  yet  the  King  of  all  human  hearts,  as 
John  felt.  Glad  am  I  that  it  was  John,  the  disci- 
ple whom  Jesus  loved,  the  disciple  whose  love 
never  failed,  even  when  his  faith  received  the 
rudest  shock ;  the  disciple  who  saw  what  sin  could 
do,  who  wrote  these  words,  "your  sins  are  for- 
given you,  for  His  name's  sake." 

And  so  we  are  delivered  from  the  harassing 
questions  as  to  the  sincerity,  the  genuineness,  the 
sufficiency  of  our  repentance.  Repentance  has  its 
place,  not  an  obscure  one,  in  Christian  experience. 
But,  I  repeat,  it  is  an  eflfect  not  a  cause.     If  only 


FOR  ni8  NAME'S  SAKE.  209 

we  can  read  these  words  with  that  understanding 
of  them  which  comes  from  the  possession  of  a 
Christianized  heart,  they  will  be  far  more  satis- 
iQictory  to  us  than  any  other;  *'Your  sins  are 
forgiven  you  for  His  name's  sake."  The  first 
moment  after  death  is  a  moment  which  must  infal- 
libly come  to  every  one  of  us.  Earth  lies  behind 
us  silently  wheeling  its  obedient  way  through  the 
black-tented  space.  Will  it  make  no  difference 
then,  as  the  measureless  Eternity  stretches  before 
us,  and  the  thought  of  a  life  which  will  seem  a 
failure  lies  behind,  that  these  words  have  been 
sent  us  by  the  lips  of  him  who  knew  how  to  love 
but  not  how  to  desert  the  One  he  so  much  loved, 
**your   sins   are   forgiven    you    for    His    name's 


xy. 

SEAECHINGS  OF  HEART. 


"  Behold  and  see  if  there  be  any  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow." — 
Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,  i :   12. 

THE  greatest  natures  are  capable  of  the 
greatest  sorrow.  It  is  utterly  inconceiva- 
ble to  man  of  how  much  sorrow  a  nature  like  that 
of  Jesus  is  capable.  The  prophet  saw  Him  in 
vision,  and  His  visage  was  more  marred  than  that 
of  any  man's.  What  sorrow  would  be  ours  if,  for 
a  single  day,  we  were  endowed  with  a  power  of 
vision  which  enabled  us  to  see  underneath  all  the 
coverings  of  life,  into  the  heart  of  things;  if  all 
persons  were  laid  bare  to  us,  and  we  saw  the 
stern  reality  below  the  veneer  and  polish  and  dress 
and  shows  of  things  !  Yet  the  Divine  Eye  traverses 
that  region,  and  none  can  cover  up  the  interior 
life  from  His  burning  gaze.  Is  the  Divine  heart 
impassive  and  unmoved  by  what  it  sees  ?  Has  it 
no  suffering  on  account  of  it  ? 

There  are  two  kinds  of  suft'erinij,  two  kinds 
of  sorrow.      There  is  the    suffering   and   sorrow 

i  210 


BEARCniNGS  OF  HEART,  211 

of  guilt  —  dry,  hard,  and  without  contrition  ;  there 
is  also  the  suffering  and  sorrow  of  love,  which 
faintl}''  represents  the  inner  movements  of  the 
Divine  heart.  We  cannot  say  what  compensations 
of  joy  are  in  the  Divine  Nature,  but  that  it  is  an 
impassive  nature,  that  we  cannot  believe  so  long 
as  we  hold  by  Scripture.  To  no  one  so  thor- 
oughly as  to  a  Divine  Being  has  this  question  such 
broad  and  deep  application — *' Behold  and  see  if 
there  be  any  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow." 

Let  us  dwell  for  a  short  while  on  this  thought. 
Let  us  not  forget  that  the  sufferings  of  our  Lord 
historically  recorded,  are  but  part  of  His  suffer- 
ings. To  the  Colossians  the  great  Apostle  speaks 
of  '*  filling  up  that  which  is  behind  of  the  afflictions 
of  Christ."  There  are  sorrows  for  the  Son  of 
man  still,  for  he  has  identified  Himself  with  us, 
and  become  one  with  us.  To  Paul,  afflictions  and 
trials  were  radiant  with  a  golden  light  of  privilege, 
because,  more  than  ought  else  they  brought  him 
into  such  close  fellowship  with  the  great  Sufferer. 

And  does  not  our  Lord  suffer  now?  Does  not 
His  church  cause  Him  sorrow  ?  Is  it  not  like  raw 
material,  so  very  hard  to  his  hand  as  to  be  almost 
incapable  of  being  moulded  into  any  shape  or  form 
of  beauty  ?  Does  He  not  sorrow  over  our  igno- 
rance? Our  mental  dullness?  Our  pride  of 
knowledo^e  which  is  often  worse  than  io^norance? 
Our  assumptions  of  something  so  like  infallibility 


212  SEARGUmOS  OF  HEART. 

that  no  one  can  distinguish  it  from  the  real  thing 
itself?  Our  unteachablenes  ?  Our  cantankerous- 
ness?  Our  unloveliness  of  spirit  and  unlovea- 
bleness?  Our  hard  thoughts  of  others?  Our 
want  of  charity  towards  them  that  see  not  with  us, 
eye  to  eye,  in  opinion?  Do  not  these  things  cause 
Him  sorrow  ? 

Again,  our  want  of  patience  in  doing  His 
work?  Our  expecting  to  reap  on  the  very  day 
we  sow?  Our  pettishness  and  peevishness  with 
one  another ;  our  ill-humor,  which  gives  a  dis- 
eased color  to  our  eye  so  that  everything  seems  to 
have  a  jaundiced  and  fading  look ;  everything 
seems  to  be'*  in  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf,"  and 
we  find  no  cause  of  thankfulness  to  God  anywhere. 
Does  He  not  sorrow  over  our  suspicion,  that  spirit 
which  is  the  opposite  of  the  charity  which  thinketh 
no  evil,  the  spirit  which  sees  nothing  in  those  who 
are  not  with  us  but  whited  sepulchres  and  platters 
clean  but  on  the  outside  ?  Does  He  not  sorrow 
over  our  self-importance,  that  spirit  which  leads 
us  to  suppose  that  we  must  always  be  right  and 
others  always  wrong ;  that  we  are  called  to  sit  on 
thrones  not  only  to  judge  the  erring  and  wander- 
ing twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  but  the  tribes  of  the 
spiritual  Israel  also. 

Does  not  our  Lord  sorrow  over  our  legalism  — 
that  old  Jewish  spirit  of  slavishness  to  mere  forms 
and  customs  which  are  of  human  device — the  letter 


SEABGHINQS  OF  HEART.  213 

which  killeth ;  the  rigidity  which  knows  not  how 
to  bend  or  adapt  itself  to  weakness  and  feebleness 
and  infirmity  ? 

Must  He  not  sorrow  over  our  sectarianisms  — 
our  thinking  more  of  mere  sectional  names  than  of 
the  real  unity  which  underlies  all  these?  Must 
He  not  sorrow  over  that  mental  and  spiritual 
obtuseness  which  cannot,  or  will  not,  see  that  a 
man  may  be  a  very  rigid  sectarian  and  a  very  bad 
Christian ;  that  he  may  be  most  scrupulously 
excellent  at  such  work  as  *'  tithing  mint,anise,  and 
cummin,"  but  for  the  weightier  matters  of  justice, 
judgment,  and  truth  he  may  have  no  very  sincere 
appreciation?  Must  He  not  sorrow  over  our  inju- 
dicious, oftentimes  almost  untruthful  speech ; 
over  that  very  great  freedom  that  we  allow  our- 
selves, even  in  the  presence  of  young  children,  to 
criticise,  severely  and  unkindly,  our  fellow-mem- 
bers, our  deacons,  our  ministers?  The  tongue  is 
a  fire,  a  world  of  iniquity,  says  the  Apostle  James. 
And  he  calls  the  man  who  has  perfect  control  over 
his  speech  a  perfect  man.  **  In  many  things  we  all 
oifend  ;  if  any  man  offend  not  in  word  the  same  is 
a  perfect  man,  and  able  also  to  bridle  the  whole 
body."  Must  not  our  hard  speech,  speech  desti- 
tute of  love  and  feeling  and  tender  consideration 
for  others,  be  a  cause  of  sorrow  to  our  Divine 
Lord? 

Yea  —  sometimes,  must  not  our  very  j^rayers  be 


214  8EARGHINGS  OF  UEAUT. 

a  source  of  sorrow  to  Him  ?  *'  Ye  ask  and  receive 
not,  because  ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may  consume 
it  on  your  lusts."  Have  we  had  no  lust  at  the 
root  of  our  desire  ?  No  lust  of  power  ?  No  lust 
of  influence  ?  No  lust  of  lording  it  over  others  ? 
No  lust  of  impressing  our  own  peculiar  individual- 
ism on  others  ?  Have  we  longed  to  see  the  poor 
crowding  into  our  church  courts  ?  Have  we  not 
secretly  prayed  that  this  and  that  person  of  influence 
might  be  brought  in  ?  But  have  we  felt  glad  — 
rejoiced —  when  some  poor  servant  girl  has  come? 
Have  we  ?  Have  we  thought  that  all  our  prayers 
and  anxieties  were  more  than  answered  by  such  a 
result  as  that? 

If  there  had  been  but  that  one  soul  lost,  still 
Redemption's  work  must  all  have  been  given  for 
that  one  soul.  Have  our  prayers  been  winged  by 
Lazarus  at  the  gate,  or  by  Dives  in  the  palace? 
Must  not  our  Lord  have  had  sorrow  oftentimes 
over  our  limiting  the  Holy  One  of  Israel ;  over 
our  very  defective  appreciation  of  the  diversity  of 
His  operations  ?  Have  we  not  dug  out  our  chan- 
nels, and  laid  our  waterpipes  and  connected  them 
with  some  favorite  reservoir  of  opinion,  and  said 
within  ourselves,  ''Come,  O  Spirit  of  Grace,  into 
these — or,  I  can  have  no  delight  in  thee?"  But, 
instead  of  that,  oftentimes  the  influences  have  not 
come  down  our  channels.  They  have  been  dry. 
Yet  in  other  ways  God  has  sent  His  blessing,  have 


SEARCIimOS  OF  UEART.  215 

we  delighted  in  it?  Have  we  not  too  often  had 
that  Naaman-spirit,  which  was  not  humble  enough 
to  receive  a  blessing  just  in  the  way  which  God 
had  designed  it  should  come,  *'  Surely,  I  thought," 
has  been  our  reply.  And  then,  has  not  some 
weak  and  gentle  voice  whispered  in  our  ear,  *'If 
the  prophet  had  bid  thee  do  some  gy^eat  thing, 
wouldst  thou  not  have  done  it  ?  Have  we  never 
been  proudly  ambitious  to  do  some  great  thing? 
Have  we  never  sought  reputation  simply  and  been 
heedless  of  character?  And  has  not  our  Lord  had 
continual  sorrow  because  of  this? 

Have  we  not  been,  like  Peter,  sometimes  imper- 
tinently officious  about  others,  instead  of  careful 
about  our  own  spirits  ?  '*  Lord  and  what  shall  this 
man  do  ? "  Have  we  not  forced  our  Lord  to  be 
sharp  with  us? — "If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I 
come,  what  is  that  to  thee  ;  follow  thou  me?" 

Instead  of  simply  being  disciples,  and  cherishing 
the  spirit  of  disciples,  have  we  never  done  any- 
thing, or  said  anything  to  convey  to  others  the 
impression  that  we  are  models  of  Christian  attain- 
ment, paragons  of  excellenc}^,  just  what  others 
ought  to  be,  in  short,  the  guardians  and  watch-dogs 
of  the  church,  licensed  by  our  very  nature  to 
snap  and  bark  at  all  intruders,  or,  like  Scotch 
sheep-dogs,  trained  to  worry  the  sheep  into  the 
fold?  Have  none  of  us  given  just  cause  for  men 
to  say,  <  if  it  were  not  for  such  hard  men  as  that 


216  8EARCHIN0S  OF  HEART. 

man,  and  that  man,  such  unlovable  men,  I  should 
think  better  of  Christians?  '  Dear  brethren,  are  we 
free  from  that  spiritual  Pharisaism,  that  ill-na- 
tured spiritual  conceit  which  repels,  from  which 
even  contrite  souls  recoil?  Often,  very  often,  no 
one  but  God  knows  how  often,  I  have  to  compel 
my  own  spirit  just  to  take  its  proper  position,  that 
of  a  sinner  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  I  dare  not 
approach  God  as  a  saint.  I  believe  that  I  know 
something  of  what  the  Apostle  felt  when  he  wrote, 
'*less  than  the  least  of  all  saints."  Are  we 
Christian  brethren,  content  to  be  simply  disciples 
of  Jesus,  sinners  saved  by  grace,  to  stand  where 
Paul  chose  to  stand,  a  position  dignified  enough 
surely  for  any  man,  not  boasting  ourselves  of  how 
much  we  love  Christ,  but  rejoicing  in  this,  that 
He  loved  us,  '*who  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself 
for  me  ?  " 

Yes,  truly,  our  Lord  may  well  say,  as  He  looks 
into  the  hearts  of  the  members  of  His  professing 
Church,  <' Behold  and  see,  if  there  be  any  sorrow 
like  unto  my  sorrow."  When,  in  a  court  of 
Justice,  a  man's  own  witnesses  seem  to  damage  his 
cause,  the  case  is  indeed  pitiful. 

And  yet,  our  Lord's  deepest,  profoundest, 
tenderest  sorrow  does  not  arise  from  any  inconsist- 
encies, or  defects,  or  blunders,  or  ignorances,  or 
wilfulnesses  which  He  sees  among  those  who 
believe  in  Him,    trust  Him  and   look    to    Him, 


8EABCHIN0S  OF  IIEABT.  217 

many  of  whom  do  their  feeble,  blundering  best, 
to  serve  Him.  For,  every  man  who  names  the 
name  of  Christ,  and  departs  from  iniquity,  honors 
Christ.  Just  as  every  young  man  who  enters  a 
school  honors  that  school,  by  the  trust  he  reposes 
in  its  teachers.  Just  as  a  tyro  in  art  honors  a 
great  Master  by  copying  his  works.  Christ's  church 
is  practically  a  school ;  not  a  museum  in  which  to 
deposit  specimens  of  antique  theologies  and  dead 
saints  ;  not  a  gallery  of  painting  and  sculpture  in 
which  to  display  finished  productions ;  it  is  a 
school  for  Christians  in  the  making.  There  are  no 
finished  specimens  to  be  found  in  it.  This  world 
is  God's  manufactory,  not  His  show-room.  But 
wherever  there  is  trust  in  God  and  confidence 
towards  God,  there  is  reconciliation  with  God. 
There  is  no  Christian  man  without  his  inconsisten- 
cies, but  these  are  the  mere  unfinished  parts  of 
character.  And  yet,  between  the  soul  that  trusts 
itself  into  Christ's  hands,  and  the  *soul  that 
witholds  itself  for  itself,  there  is  a  whole  gulf  of 
difference.  Naturally,  one  may  be  a  finer  specimen 
of  man  than  the  other,  intellectually  superior, 
more  refined  in  sensibility,  more  companionable, 
and  yet  as  to  the  interior  possibilities  there  is  no 
comparison.  Christ  in  a  man,  as  Paul  puts  it, 
may  be  but  as  a  seed  in  him,  but  it  is  a  seed  which 
shall  rend  the  rock,  and  split  the  mountain  in  its 
growth.     Christ  in  a  man  is  a  germ  in  Him  which 


218  SEARCHING8  OF  HEART, 

demands  Eternity  for  its  development.    Therefore 
is  it  that  to  get  the  idea  of  Christ  uppermost  in  the 
mind  renews  the  mind,  to  get  the  love  of  Christ 
supreme  in  the  heart  renews  the  affectional  nature. 
As  to  those  who  trust  Him,  our  Lord  can  wait  the 
perfect   development   of  Himself    into    dominion 
over    all    w^eaknesses,    ignorances,    wilfulnesses, 
inconsistencies  whatsoever.     It  is  a  mere  matter 
of  time.     His  chief  sorrow  is  from  another  source. 
His  chief  sorrow  was  not  over  Peter  w  ho  denied 
Him  ;  not  over  the  two  disciples  who  wanted  to  be 
the  greatest  in  His  kingdom  ;   not  over  Magdalene 
whose  soul  He  cleansed  of  its  seven-fold  tyranny  of 
evil — for  she  loved  much,  having  much  forgiven  — 
not  over  Nicodemus  who  came  secretly,  under  the 
deep  shadows  of  night ;   not  over  the  disciples  who 
slept  in   Gethsemane   and  could  not  watch  with 
Him  one  hour ;     not  over   the   men  who  forsook 
Him  and  fled  ;   not  even  over  the  dying  thief.    His 
chief  sorrow   was   not   over  these,   but   over   the 
people  of  the  city  who  rejected  Him — *'  Oh,  Jeru- 
salem, Jerusalem,  thou  that   killest  the  prophets, 
and  stonest  them  which   are   sent  unto  thee,  how 
often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together, 
even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her   chickens  under  her 
wings,  and   ye   would    not!" — over    Judas  who 
betrayed  Him,  ' ^  good  for  that  man   had  he  never 
been    born."      And,    in    these    days.    His    chief 
sorrow  is  not  over  His  Church,  with  all  its  multi- 


8EARGIIING8  OF  HEABT.  219 

plied  inconsistencies,  ignorances,  and  wilfulnesses, 
but  over  others ;  over  you  young  man,  to  whom 
He  has  given  a  godly  fiither  and  mother,  who 
daily  pray  for  you,  though  you  hear  it  not,  who 
love  you  with  a  love  that  as  far  as  a  finite  thing 
can  represent  an  infinite  thing,  is  like  the  love  of 
God.  Oh,  to  be  born  in  Heaven  and  to  descend 
into  Hell ;  to  be  cradled  in  Bethlehem  and  thence 
to  sink  into  an  inhabitant  of  Sodom ;  to  breathe 
your  first  breath  in  the  land  of  Promise,  and  to 
choose  in  preference  the  bondage  of  Egypt ;  to 
resist  successfully  the  undying  solicitude  of  a 
heart  beating  with  a  pulse  that  is  timed  to  God's 
love  ;  to  be  the  child  of  a  house  on  the  lintel  and 
side-posts  of  which  the  blood  of  Calvary  had  been 
sprinkled  ;  to  be  dedicated  to  God  in  Baptism  ;  to 
have  all  the  privileges  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
claimed  on  your  behalf;  to  be  a  child  of  God's 
Covenant  made  with  your  parents,  and  to  break 
away,  finally  and  forever  from  this,  it  seems  to  me 
at  times  impossible.  It  seems  to  me  at  times  as 
if  the  power  of  God  as  well  as  the  grace  of 
God  were  pledged  to  your  arrestment.  Our 
Lord  looking  ^n  you  may  well  say,  **  was  any 
sorrow,  like  unto  my  sorrow  ?  " 

Over  you  also,  fathers  and  mothers,  men  and 
women  bearing  the  holiest  names  that  this  world 
knows  ;  into  whose  arms  a  gift  has  been  placed  than 
which  this  earth  can  furnish  none  so  marvellous  or 


220  SEARCHIN08  OF  HEART, 

wonderful  —  have  you  appreciated  that  gift  at  its 
true  value  ?  Have  you  realized  that  the  flesh  was 
only  a  platform  for  an  immortal  spirit  to  stand  upon  ? 
Must  there  not  be  sorrow  in  the  heart  of  Christ 
as  He  sees  fathers  and  mothers  treating  children  as 
though  they  were  mere  animal  forms,  or  at  the 
most,  mere  children  of  this  world,  to  be  trained 
for  this  world,  everything  nurtured  in  them  except 
that  which  is  highest,  that  which  is  distinctive,  that 
which  makes  them  men  ?  In  every  child  there  is 
a  religious  instinct,  and  it  largely  depends  upon 
what  the  parents  are  as  to  whether  that  religious 
instinct  shall  be  cultured  or  crushed ;  whether  it 
shall  become  conviction,  or  remain  for  a  while  in 
an  undeveloped  condition  and  eventually  become 
an  accusino:  Conscience.  I  believe  that  most  of 
the  sad  disappointments  that  parents  meet  with  in 
their  children  are  simply  Nature  working  its  own 
revenge  for  this  insult  offered  to  the  religious 
instinct.  Have  those  of  you  who  are  fathers  and 
mothers  not  brought  much  sorrow  into  the  heart 
of  Jesus  by  refusing  to  train  the  religious  instinct 
in  your  child  ?  That  which  fathers  and  mothers 
do,  children  naturally  want  to  do.  Are  you, 
fathers  and  mothers,  just  exactly  where  you  ought 
to  be,  considering  what  your  opportunities  and 
responsibilities  are?  You  love  your  children, 
why  do  you  not  love  them  all  through,  soul  as 
well  as   body,  spirit  as   well  as   soul?    I  have 


SEARCHINOS  OF  HEART.  221 

sometimes  met  with  cases  of  parents  who  said  to 
their  children,  *'go,"  but  not  '^comc."  Better, 
far  better  life  than  speech.  Better  example  than 
precept.  But  more  human  and  kindly  the  spirit 
which  says,  "go"  than  that  which  resists  the  re- 
ligious instinct  of  childhood  in  its  feelings  after 
God.  What  must  have  been  the  sensations  of 
that  mother,  whose  son,  in  the  condemned  cell, 
turned  upon  her,  almost  with  the  rage  of  a  tiger, 
and  said,  *'If  you  had  been  a  better  woman  I 
should  never  have  been  here." 

When  our  Lord  looks  from  the  height  of  His 
Inlinite  Knowledge  upon  the  world  of  fathers  and 
mothers,  and  sees  how,  by  their  example,  they  are 
bending  their  children's  souls  away  from  Him, 
how  often  must  His  feeling  be  like  to  that  ex- 
pressed in  these  words,  *'  Is  any  sorrow  like  unto 
my  sorrow." 

But  we  cannot  pursue  this  line  of  reflection 
into  many  of  its  details.  And  yet  does  it  not 
touch  every  one  of  us?  What  sorrow  greater 
than  that  of  being  perpetually  misunderstood? 
And  who  knows  this  sorrow  as  the  Son  of  God 
knows  it?  Have  we  not  misunderstood  Him 
most  egregiously?  Have  we  not  thought  of 
Him  as  the  condemner?  Yet  is  He  the  Saviour. 
Have  we  not  regarded  Him  as  though  He  came  to 
destroy  ?  Yet  He  came  to  stand  between  us  and 
destruction.     What  sorrow  is  more   cutting   and 


222  SEARCniNOS  OF  HEABT. 

lacerating  and  torturing  to  the  heart  than  to  be 
suspected?  Has  not  Jesus  been  the  object  of 
our  suspicion?  Have  we  not  said  by  our  conduct, 
*  I  dare  not  trust  Him,  I  dare  not  commit  myself 
to  Him?'  Have  we  not  exalted  men  above  Him? 
Plave  we  not  feared  men  ?  Have  we  not  allowed 
the  frowns  of  men  to  be  more  to  us  than  the 
smiles  of  the  Savior?  Have  we  not  steadily  re- 
fused to  follow  our  best  inclinations  ?  Have  we 
not  done  our  best  to  put  out  the  light  which  was 
in  our  consciences?  Have  we  not  resisted  our 
own  tenderest  impulses?  Have  we  not  thought 
that  we  might  have  too  much  of  Christ  ?  Have  we 
not  persisted  in  thinking  that  the  call  of  Christ 
was  to  gloom,  and  despondency  and  joylessness 
and  narrowness  of  life  ?  Have  we  not  ignorantly 
misinterpreted  the  plainest  truths  of  Holy  Writ  ? 
Have  we  not  resisted  the  Holy  Spirit's  movements 
in  our  souls?  Have  we  not  almost  forced  our- 
selves into  darkness?  And  all  this  has  been  so 
much  of  sorrow  poured  into  the  lot  of  the  Son  of 
Man.  Yet  still  He  broods  over  us,  with  a  love 
that  many  waters  cannot  quench.  Still  He  shows 
us  His  Crown  of  Thorns,  His  garments  all  red 
with  blood,  His  pierced  hands  and  feet.  His  spear 
thrust  side ;  still  He  reminds  us  of  Calvary,  and 
of  Gethsemane  and  asks  us  still,  ''Was  any 
sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow  ?" 


XYI. 
THE  DIVINE  EESPONSIBILlTY. 


But  now  thus  saith  the  Lord  that  created  thee,  O  Jacob,  and  He 
that  formed  thee,  O  Israel,  Fear  not,  for  I  have  redeemed  thee,  I 
I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name:    thou  are  mine. —  Isaiah,  xliii:   I. 

THE  subject  of  Responsibility  has  recently 
occupied  our  attention.  First,  the  Respon- 
sibility of  the  Ungodly  for  his  ungodliness 
and  all  its  consequences.  Secondly,  the  Respon- 
sibility of  the  Christian  —  consisting  mainly 
in  loyalty  to  Christ.  And  now  I  am  about 
to  venture  upon  an  extension  of  this  thought 
of  Responsibility.  I  purpose  to  pursue  it  into 
a  region,  the  most  sacred  of  all  —  and  to 
speak  —  I  hope  without  presumption,  I  hope  with 
reverence,  I  hope  so  as  not  to  expose  myself  to 
any  just  charge  of  rashness  or  impiety — I  propose 
to  speak  of  the  Divine  responsibility. 

For,  surely.  Responsibility  is  not  a  word  that 
can  be  limited  to  man.  It  must  belong  to  those 
higher  orders  of  created  intelligence  known  to  us 
as  angels  of  various  degrees.     It  must  belong  to 

223 


224  THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY. 

the  Eternal  One  Himself.  It  must  be  that  He 
holds  Himself  responsible  for  the  Creation  and  its 
consequences.  This  is  not  a  thought  that  often 
comes  within  the  sphere  of  our  meditation  —  nor 
should  it.  Such  a  thou^rht  is  not  to  be  brouirht 
into  the  area  of  flippant  discussion  or  heated  con- 
troversy. It  belongs  rather  to  those  moments  of 
meditation  when  all  voices  are  quiet  but  one,  and 
that  one  voice  chastened  into  subduedness  consist- 
ent with  the  deepest  reverence.  And  yet  surely 
we  may  speak  on  so  sacred  a  theme  without  being 
blameworthy.  If  responsibility  belongs  to  the 
creature  made  in  the  image  of  God,  it  is  inherited 
responsibility ;  it  comes  down  from  Him  who 
made  him. 

Let  us  approach  the  subject  cautiously.  God's 
revelation  of  Himself  is  intended  to  be  a  light  to 
the  mind,  and  a  joy  to  the  heart.  If  the  word 
*  God'  means  "the  good  one,"  be  sure  that  all  that 
is  made  known  to  us  of  God  in  any  way,  or 
through  any  medium,  is  for  our  good.  Every 
word  by  w^iich  He  has  made  Himself  known  is  our 
property — to  be  sacredly  guarded  for  what  it 
contains.  Everyone  who  knows  anything  of  Scrip- 
ture knows  how  gradual  has  been  the  revelation 
of  God  to  the  human  race.  Not  till  we  reach  the 
time  of  David  do  we  get  the  word  father  as 
applied  to  Deity,  and  then  only  in  a  figurative  sort 
of  way.     Isaiah  prophecies  that  one  of  the  signs 


THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY.  225 

of  the  Christian  dispensation  shall  be  that  the 
name  of  God  as  revealed  in  Christ  shall  be  *'the 
Everlasting  Father."  Men  had  known  Deity  as 
the  Self-Existent  God — the  source  of  life.  They 
had  thought  of  Him  as  the  God  of  Providence,  the 
Great  Provider,  who  had  them  in  His  hands,  and 
would  care  for  them,  and  that  is  about  the  utmost 
practical  view  attained  in  the  Old  Testament. 
In  that  wonderful  book  of  Job,  the  epitomised  life 
of  the  human  race,  we  have  the  thought  of  an 
unrealized  Eedeemer, —  but  *' My  Father  and  your 
Father,  my  God  and  your  God"  is  New  Testament 
language,  and  post-resurrection  speech  at  that. 
This  speecli  leads  us  to  the  thought  of  the  Divine 
Eesponsibility.  It  is  not  our  invention  but  God's 
revelation,  that,  *like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  chil- 
dren so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  Him.'  We 
have  a  right,  then,  to  say  that  at  least  the  same 
measure  of  responsibility  which  belongs  to  a  father 
for  the  nourishment,  education,  and  development 
of  his  child  belongs  to  the  great  Eternal  Father 
for  us  all.  He  has  made  us,  and  not  we  our- 
selves. "We  are  not  rasponsible  for  being  here  — 
that  responsibility  belongs  outside  of  us.  We  are 
not  responsible  for  the  laws  which  work  in  our 
own  constitutions,  for  we  did  not  create  those 
laws.  We  are  not  responsible  for  anything  which 
is  out  of  our  own  power,  that  is  evident — so  evi- 
dent that  it  is  useless  to  av^nxQ  the  matter.     I  am 


o 


226  THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY, 

not  responsible  for  the  original  tendency  to  sinful- 
ness which  was  in  my  nature  when  born  into  this 
world.  Nor  am  I  responsible  for  being  born,  nor 
for  being  born  where  I  was  born  ;  nor  for  having 
just  those  parents  which  were  mine ;  nor  for 
being  just  so  high  and  just  so  heavy  ;  nor  for  having 
the  temperament  and  disposition  with  which  1  was 
born.  Nor  are  you  responsible  for  like  matters 
in  yourself;  nor  is  any  one.  These  things  lie 
beyond  our  election  and  choice.  Neither  you, 
nor  I,  nor  any  one  is  responsible  for  the  fact  that 
we  came  into  the  Avorld  puling  babes,  nor  for  the 
laws  at  the  back  of  our  life  which  co-operated  to 
that  result — all  this  responsibility  lies  outside  of 
us.  I  suppose  that  in  the  generations  behind  us 
there  have  lived  people  w^ho  verily  persuaded 
themselves  that  they  were  responsible  for  the  sin 
of  Adam — that  the  guilt  of  what  was  done  thou- 
sands of  years  ago  rested  upon  them — that  they 
were  doomed  because  an  ancestor  of  generations 
ago  was  a  wilful  sinner. 

It  is  very  wonderful  that  any  one  should  be 
found  capable  of  training  his  conscience  to  the 
acceptance  of  such  a  fallacy.  Every  man  inherits 
tendencies  from  past  generations  —  that  we  know. 
When  the  first  of  men  wilfully  disobeyed  God,  He 
started  in  himself  a  tendency,  which,  if  not  re- 
sisted, would  become  a  habit  of  wrong  doing  — 
and  that  habit  would  create  a  tendency  in  the  next 


THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY,  327 

generation,  and  in  the  next,  and  so  on.  And 
that  is  what  is  meant  by  original  sin  —  the  ten- 
dency created  by  generations  past  to  wrong  — 
stamping  its  impress  upon  mind  and  heart,  3^ea, 
upon  the  physical  organism.  It  is  so  in  the 
animal  world.  In  the  past,  dogs  have  been  trained 
to  fold  sheep,  and  the  instruction  has  become  a 
habit,  and  the  habit  has  created  a  tendency  in  the 
next  generation  to  do  the  same  thing,  and  has 
become  fixed  ^  a  second  nature,  as  w^e  say.  And 
this  law  runs  through  all  creation,  even  into  the 
vegetable  world.  Drunkenness  in  a  parent  creates 
a  tendency  to  drunkenness  in  a  child.  The  thiev- 
ing propensity  in  a  family  has  been  known  to 
propagate  itself  from  generation  to  generation. 
The  disposition  to  speak  falsehood,  too  —  until 
whole  nations  have  lost  the  sense  of  the  deep 
disgrace  of  lying.  Now,  this  is  what  theology 
means  by  original  sin.  It  has  no  idea  of  original 
guilt.  It  is  contradiction  in  language,  and  confu- 
sion in  thought  to  speak  of  original  guilt. 

Now  He  who  made  man  is  responsible  for  the 
original  law  by  which  tendencies  to  good  and  evil 
can  be  propagated  from  sire  to  son.  The  law  is 
not  evil ;  it  is  good.  But  good  laws  are  often 
used  for  bad  purposes.  An  illustration  may  make 
it  clear.  From  a  reservoir  of  pure  water,  pipes 
are  laid  to  every  house  in  a  city.  Those  pipes 
were  laid  for  the  conveyance   of  pure,  wholesome 


228  THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY. 

water  for  the  benefit  of  a  large  population.  That 
was  the  original  design  and  intention.  But  sup- 
pose that  city  should  be  besieged  by  a  barbarian 
army — suppose  the  army  should  surround  the 
reservoir  and  poison  the  waters,  the  very  pipes 
which  were  laid  for  the  conveyance  of  life  would 
be  conduits  for  the  conveyance  of  death.  But 
that  was  not  their  original  design.  The  city  which 
constructed,  at  a  great  cost,  that  water-system,  is 
not  responsible  for  this  diabolic  abuse  of  the  sys- 
tem. And  so  our  guilt  does  not  extend  to  Deity. 
He  is  responsible  for  the  beneficent  law,  not  for 
the  sin  which  has  been  transmitted  alono^  it.  The 
very  idea  of  intelligence  involves  freedom.  Either 
there  must  be  freedom,  or  there  can  be  no  intelli- 
gence and  no  morality.  Man  could  not  be  what 
he  is  without  this  liberty.  He  must  have  the 
ability  to  go  wrong,  or  he  cannot  have  the  ability 
to  do  right.  God  is  re^^^onsible  for  making  man 
what  he  is,  or  rather  was,  and  man  is  responsible 
for  abusing  his  freedom.  The  law  is  good  if  a 
man  use  it  lawfully. 

Let  us  go  a  step  further.  We  cannot  conceive 
of  an  Omniscient  God,  without  admitting  that  He 
must  have  foreseen  that  the  creature  He  made 
would  abuse  his  liberty.  God  must  have  foreseen 
the  fall  of  His  creature  from  a  condition  of  inno- 
cence. Does  the  Divine  Responsibility  extend  to 
making   such   provision    as    would    prevent    it? 


TEE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY.  229 

Clearly  not.  No  such  provision  has  been  made. 
We  cannot  conceive  how  it  could  be  made,  and 
yet  leave  man  a  free  moral  agent,  not  a  machine. 
The  Divine  responsibility  extends  to  the  providing 
a  means  whereby  not  simply  to  develop  an  inno- 
cent man,  but  to  save  a  guilty  man  from  the 
spiritual  consequences  of  his  sin.  From  all  the 
consequences  he  cannot  be  saved  —  from  the  fatal 
consequences  he  can.  That  God  did  anticipate 
the  fall  from  innocence  of  His  creature,  and  pro- 
vide for  meeting  man  in  a  fallen  condition  is  evi- 
dent from  one  single  expression  ' '  The  Lamb  slain 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world."  In  the 
Divine  purpose,  plan,  and  intention,  provision  was 
made  for  the  sinner's  escape  from  the  fatal  conse- 
quences of  his  sin  before  there  was  a  sinner  to  sin. 
Eedemption  was  no  after-thought.  It  was  woven 
into  the  very  web  of  creation.  It  was  no  patching 
up  of  badly-done  work,  as  some  have  irreverently 
phrased  it,  but  the  provision  made  by  Divine  Love 
for  all  contingencies  which  should  arise.  Once, 
apprehend  the  Divine  character  as  revealed  in 
Holy  Writ,  and  then  it  will  be  easy  to  see  that 
Eedemption  is  the  bringing  into  operation  of  the 
Divine  Love  just  as  creation  is  the  bringing  into 
operation  of  the  Divine  energy.  If  the  Creator 
puts  on  this  earth  a  creature  with  a  liability  in  his 
nature  to  fall,  is  He  not  responsible  for  making 
provision  for  his  redemption  ^nd  restoration  ?     If 


230  THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY. 

3'ou  think  for  a  while  of  the  question  you  will  be 
disposed  to  give  but  one  answer.  I  know  how  often 
it  has  been  said  that  if  after  the  fall  God  had  left 
man  to  himself,  and  visited  him  no  more,  he 
would  have  been  just.  No  one,  it  is  said,  could 
possibly  have  impeached  his  justice.  It  may  be 
so.  I  do  not  care  to  argue  the  question.  I  think 
Scripture  does  not  naturally  produce  the  impres- 
sion upon  the  mind  that  the  attributes  of  God  are 
at  variance  one  with  the  other,  and  that  there  is 
eternal  discord  in  the  Divine  nature'.  It  has  never 
produced  that  impression  on  my  own  mind,  and  I 
very  much  question  if  ever  it  can  be  charged  with 
producing  that  impression  on  any  mind.  I  have 
read  a  discourse  in  which,  with  fine  dramatic 
effect,  the  revealed  attributes  of  Deity  were 
arraigned  the  one  against  the  other.  Justice  came 
with  flaming  sword,  and  demanded  the  execution 
of  the  offender.  She  summoned  her  witnesses  to 
show  that  she  had  done  this  and  that,  and  sentence 
was  about  to  be  pronounced.  But  Mercy  stepped 
in  and  pleaded,  with  sobs  in  her  voice  and  tears 
in  her  eyes,  and  at  last  succeeded  in  prevailing  on 
Justice  to  forego  her  claim.  And  so  for  the  sake 
of  Mercy  —  or  by  Mercy  —  Justice  was  defeated. 
Now,  for  our  own  convenience,  it  may  be  necessary 
at  times  to  speak  of  justice  and  at  other  times  of 
mercy.  But  justice  and  mercy  in  God  are  never 
represented   as    in   antagonism.     They    ever    go 


THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY.  231 

hand-in-hand  together  —  like  light  and  heat  in  the 
sunbeams.  It  would  be  nothing  short  of  foolish  for 
me  to  try,  in  a  brief  sermon,  to  offer  anything 
upon  what  has  been  called  * '  the  philosophy  of  the 
plan  of  salvation."  Whether  any  single  human 
soul  has  ever  been  brought  into  fellow^ship  with 
Christ  through  the  comprehension  of  ''the  philos- 
ophy of  the  plan  of  salvation,"  I  very  much  doubt. 
That  part  of  human  nature  which  we  call  the  '  heart ' 
has  more  to  do  with  the  realizing  of  the  Eedemp- 
tion  wrought  out  on  Calvary.  The  work  of 
Redemption  excites  a  confidence  towards  God 
wdiich  the  work  of  Creation  never  can.  When  the 
revelation  comes  to  the  sinning  soul —  ''  Trust  in 
Me  ;  hope  in  Me ;  lean  upon  Me ;  I  have  found 
a  Eansom  ;  I  am  a  Just  God  and  a  Savior"  —  a 
just  God,  because  a  Savior — how  can  such  a 
message  do  aught  else  than  excite  confidence  in 
the  soul,  and  rouse  faith  into  action?  We  see, 
from  the  fact  brought  into  full  visibility  on  Calvar}^ 
that  the  Creator  of  man  holds  Himself  responsible 
for  man's  redemption  —  that  is  to  say,  for  doing 
all  and  everything  essential  so  to  counteract  the 
eflects  of  inherited  sin  as  that  it  shall  be  easier  for 
man  to  reach  heaven  than  not  to  reach  it. 

When  God  opened  the  eyes  of  the  great  apostle 
he  saw  this  truth,  that  "  Where  sin  abounded, 
grace  did  much  more  abound,"  or,  as  it  is  more 
correctly,  '' superabounded,"  abounded  over  and 


232  THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY. 

above.  In  this  dispensation  of  things  a  lost  man 
has  not  simply  to  reject  God  as  a  Creator,  but 
God  as  a  Eedeemer  —  God  in  Christ  —  the  God 
who  has  done  all  and  everything  possible  to  be 
done  to  nullify  the  fatal  results  of  sin.  There  are 
physical  consequences  of  sin  —  and  these  cannot 
be  interfered  with.  They  become  useful  as  chastise- 
ments, as  evangelical  forces  in  the  body  of  man 
working  a  knowledge  of  what  sin  is,  and  under 
God  working  repentance  for  sin.  But  the  fatal 
consequences  God  has  provided  against  in  redemp- 
tion, for,  like  as  with  Paul's  ship  which  was  utterly 
lost,  but  they  who  were  in  it  all  came  safe  to  land, 
so  with  this  body  of  ours,  sin-cursed,  and  there- 
fore not  fitted  for  the  permanent  body  in  which 
the  soul  shall  live  eternally ;  it  shall  be  lost,  but 
the  soul  shall  reach  the  home-land,  and  be  clothed 
upon  with  its  house  "  which  is  from  heaven."  In 
Eedemption  our  God  comes  to  us  and  shares  our 
responsibility  for  sin.  Oh,  it  is  a  wonderful 
thought  that,  but  a  true  one  !  To  a  degree  God 
makes  himself  responsible  for  human  sin,  and  pro- 
vides redemption,  provides  a  new  attitude  for  the 
soul.  Formerly  the  law  was.  Do  this  and  live. 
Man  fell  out  from  that.  Now  the  law  is.  Trust  and 
live.  Have  faith  and  live.  *'  I  have  found  a  ran- 
som." As  though  God  should  say,  the  responsibility 
for  sin  is  not  all  yours,  some  of  it  is  Mine.  Don't 
shrink  back  from  the  thought.  It  does  not  make  pur 


THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY.  233 

God  the  author  of  sin.  But  He  became  sin  for  us 
who  knew  no  sin.  He  became  as  though  He  were  a 
sinner.  In  other  words.  He  took  upon  Himself 
the  responsibility  for  man's  sin  to  the  extent  of 
providing  a  redemption.  And  was  it  not  like 
Him  ?  Think  of  a  fiither  who  should  blot  out  the 
name  of  his  son  from  the  family  register  the 
moment  he  sinned,  and  do  nothing  to  reclaim 
him  !  What  would  you  think  of  such  a  father  ? 
Would  you  not  go  to  him  and  reason  w^ith  him  — 
*<  You  w^ere  the  medium  of  that  child's  life,  he  is 
your  child,  you  are  responsible  for  his  existence, 
and  for  doing  to  the  utmost  possible  for  that 
child's  redemption  and  restoration  ? "  And  can 
that  which  is  true  of  an  earthly  father  towards  his 
child  be  untrue  of  the  Eternal  Father  ?  Having 
created  our  spirit's  life  ;  having  breathed  into  our 
nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and  made  us  living  souls, 
is  the  Eternal  Father  not  responsible  for  the  doing 
all  that  is  possible  for  Him  to  do  to  save  us  if  we 
sin,  to  rescue  us  if  we  fall,  to  educate  us,  to 
discipline  us,  and  that  with  all  patience,  with  all 
tenderness,  yet  with  all  the  firmness  and  unyielding 
righteousness  which  belong  to  the  fatherly  rela- 
tionship? And  herein,  in  this  earthly  relationship 
of  father  and  child,  and  the  responsibility  which 
holds  from  the  one  to  the  other,  we  get  the  best 
commentary  the  earth  holds  on  the  Divine 
Responsibility. 


234  THE  DIVINE  RESPONSIBILITY. 

You  remember  the  complimentary  word  uttered 
respecting  Abraham  :  * '  For  I  know  him  that  he 
will  command  his  children  ;  "  and  in  every  father 
there  is  lodged  the  right  to  command  —  the  duty 
to  command.  That  weak  tenderness  which  per- 
mits disobedience  to  go  unrebuked  and  unpun- 
ished, is  not  Divine  tenderness.  It  is  the  frailty 
of  human  irresoluteness.  There  is  nothing  of  that 
in  God.  The  commands  and  precepts  of  His 
Word  indicate  not  merely  the  magistrate  or  the 
ruler.  They  betoken  the  Father  —  the  Divine 
Father — who  knows  what  His  children  do  not 
know,  who  would  shield  them  from  every  harm, 
and  when  they  are  broken  and  bruised,  heal  them. 
Christian  brethren,  is  there  nothing  for  our  souls 
to  rest  upon  in  this,  that  we  are  not  our  own 
creators,  not  our  own  in  any  sense,  but  God's; 
that  He  having  created  us,  is  responsible  for 
redeeming  us?  Does  it  not  help  us  to  get  rid  of 
those  crude,  almost  barbaric,  thoughts  of  God, 
which  even  Christian  minds  have  sometimes  per- 
mitted themselves  to  entertain?  Shy  lock,  deter- 
mined to  have  his  pound  of  flesh,  is  not  the  Bible 
idea  of  God.  But  the  Parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son 
is  our  Lord's  idea  ;  and  oh,  how  lovely  and  beauti- 
ful the  idea  is  !  Let  us  cherish  it,  in  the  full  assur- 
ance that  it  represents  —  though  feint ly,  yet  truly 
—  the  eternal  disposition  of  our  God  towards  all 
returning  prodigals  and  all  sorrowing  sinners. 


XVII. 
PEEDESTINATION. 


*'  Predestinated  according  to  the  purpose  of  him  who  worketh  all 
things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will."' —  E^hesians,  i.  ii. 

HOW  often  people  get  frightened  at  a  word. 
There  has  been  no  inconsiderable  fright 
at  the  first  word  in  this  text  —  *  predestinated '  — 
or,  as  in  the  New  Version  '  fore-ordained.'  Cal- 
vinism has  been  associated  with  such  words  as 
*  predestination '  and  'fore-ordination.'  And 
these  words  have  been  interpreted  theologically 
rather  than  etymologically.  It  is  very  interesting 
to  know  what  Calvin  meant  by  those  words, 
because  he  was  one  of  the  rulinix  minds  of  his 
time.  It  is  of  more  importance  to  know  what 
Paul  meant  by  them  —  for  he  was  specially  called 
of  God  to  teach  spiritual  truth  because  he  was 
specially  fitted  to  teach  it  —  although  he  did  not 
think  that  he  was.  Like  Moses,  he  had  a  very 
low  idea  of  his  own  competenc}' ;  but  the  lives  of 
both  men  proved  that  there  was  no  mistake  made 

235 


236  PREDESTINATION. 

when  the  one  was  called  to  Leadership  and  the 
other  to  Apostleship.  The  self-distrusting  man  is 
generally  the  man  to  choose.  His  distrust  of 
himself  will  throw  him  back  upon  God.  *'Lord 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  "  will  be  his  perpet- 
ual prayer. 

What  is  our  relation  to  leaders  in  the  Church  of 
Christ,  leaders  of  thought,  I  mean?  Tamely  to 
submit  to  everything  they  suggest,  as  though  it 
must  he  ixxxih'^    Is  that  our  duty? 

Or,  to  resist  them  simply  because  they  are 
leaders,  in  a  spirit  of  snappish  independence? 
Neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  Calvin  must  have 
learnt  all  that  he  knew  of  theology  from  the 
Apostle  Paul.  Did  he  interpret  him  aright? 
That *is  the  question.  How  are  we  to  answer  it? 
By  comparing  one  part  of  the  Apostle's  teaching 
with  another  —  and  then  comparing  the  whole  of 
it  with  what  other  Apostles  said,  and  specially 
with  what  our  Lord  Himself  said  and  did.  Only 
thus  can  we  know. 

Every  generation  has  its  way  of  looking  at 
things.  The  generation  of  Calvin  saw  that  there 
were  law  and  order  in  the  world  —  and  dreaded 
anarchy,  dreaded  the  uprising  of  the  people, 
dreaded  revolution.  They  preached  a  theology  of 
law  and  order.  God  was  King,  absolute  monarch. 
Judge.  There  was  no  appeal  from  Him.  So  far 
they  were  right.     But  when  they  went  farther  and 


PREDESTINATION.  237 

said,  we  understand  perfectly  what  God's  will  is, 
and  there  is  no  appeal  from  us,  then  they  went  a 
step  too  far.  Still,  the  result  of  their  influence 
on  their  own  time  was  very  beneficial.  Never  in 
the  world's  history,  has  a  city  been  better 
ruled  than  was  Geneva  under  Calvin.  'And 
while  his  interpretations  of  Scripture  have 
been  improved  upon  in  many  particulars,  yet 
there  are  elements  in  his  teaching  which  are 
true  for  ever.  Eightly  interpreted,  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Divine  Sovereignty  is  full  of  consola- 
tion. The  inference  from  it  is  law  and  order. 
If  God  be  not  Sovereign  who  is?  Man?  But 
man  is  a  myriad-headed  creature.  The  Sover- 
eignty of  man  means  anarchy.  And  what  shall 
we  say  to  Calvin's  assertion  that  whatever  God 
wills  is  right?  Read  in  the  light  of  Scripture  it 
can  only  mean  whatever  God  wills  is  good,  not 
simply  because  He  wills  it,  but  because  it  is  for 
the  highest  good  of  His  creatures.  You  may  turn 
the  sentence  round  and  read  it  the  other  way  — 
whatever  is  right  God  wills.  Calvin,  I  have  no 
doubt,  felt  at  heart  when  he  proclaimed  the  Divine 
Sovereignty  as  absolute,  and  the  Divine  will  as 
supreme,  as  felt  David  when  he  prayed  ''  Let  me 
fall  into  the  hands  of  God  for  His  mercies  are 
great,  but  let  me  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  man." 
But  whatever  Calvin  meant,  and  whatever  any 
great  teachers  mean,  you  and  I  have  the   same 


238  PREDESTINATION, 

living  spring  from  which  to  draw  our  water  of  life 
as  they  had.  We  can  go  to  the  Scriptures  them- 
selves. And  the  only  way  to  arrive  at  that  union 
of  the  church  of  Christ  which  is  so  necessary  is  to 
go  back  to  the  Scriptures.  Any  man  and  every 
man  who  makes  more  of  mere  sectarian  leaders 
than  of  the  leaders  which  God  Himself  appointed 
is  condemned  by  these  Scriptures.  Read  what  St. 
Paul  says  about  this  derisive  spirit  — ' '  One  says 
I  am  of  Paul,  another,  I  am  of  ApoUos,  another,  I 
am  of  Cephas."  St.  Paul  condemns  the  whole  thing. 
He  says,  '  while  you  talk  in  that  way  you  are 
carnal  in  mind,  not  spiritual.  Who  is  Paul  and 
who  is  Apollos  ?  Ministers  by  whom  ye  believed. 
Believed  in  whom  ?  In  Paul  ?  In  Apollos  ?  Nay  ; 
in  Christ.  It  was  Christ  who  was  crucified  for 
you.  Not  Paul,  or  Apollos  or  Cephas.'  Now 
this  is  the  spirit  which  every  true  successor  of  the 
Apostles  will  stand  for.  A  leader  who  leads  men 
to  himself  and  not  to  Christ  is  a  usurper.  None 
of  us  ought  to  be  satisfied  until  we  are  sure  that 
we  have  correctly  apprehended  the  ideas  which 
these  Apostolic  men  gave  to  the  world.  Of  course, 
the  man  who  gives  more  time,  and  more  research 
will  be  likely  to  be  nearer  the  exact  truth.  We 
must  remember  this  however,  that  the  whole  of 
any  truth  is  never  apprehended  by  one  man  or  in 
one  generation.  In  the  Roman  Empire,  they  used 
to  call  a  very  small  section  of  the  earth  the  world. 


PREDESTINATION.  239 

The  word  *  world '  to-day  means  vastly  more  than 
it  did  then.  But  what  they  had  of  it  was  good, 
and  useful  for  them.  But  it  was  only  a  piece. 
So  it  is  in  regard  to  the  world  of  mind,  and  the 
world  of  spirit.  It  is  being  discovered  all  the 
time.  The  opinions  which  the  men  of  the  past 
held  were  not  entirely  false,  they  were  only  par- 
tial, crude,  and  incomplete.  We  must  remember 
that  the  duty  which  Jesus  Christ  has  laid  upon  us 
is  not  to  know  everything,  but  to  be  learners  and 
followers  of  Him.  To  follow  a  person,  to  get  a 
certain  type  of  character,  not  to  be  mentally 
correct  simply,  that  is  what  our  Lord  asks.  He 
asks  what  all  can  do  ;  His  claims  are  of  such  a 
nature  that  they  have  universal  applicability. 
Children,  young  men  and  maidens,  adults  and 
old  men,  all  can  follow  a  person,  all  can  aim  at  a 
certain  type  of  character.  In  a  word,  all  can  be 
Christians.  The  beginnings  of  Christian  life  are 
very  simple,  so  long  as  we  go  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  they  are  complicated  and  difficult  only 
when  man  begins  to  introduce  his  inventions  and 
confusions  into  them. 

The  Church  is  at  one  and  the  same  time  a 
school-house ;  a  hospital ;  a  temporary  home. 
But  before  we  can  learn  what  it  has  to  teach,  we 
must  be  in  it.  The  child  enters  and  then  begins 
to  learn.  We  come  into  the  Church  not  to  display 
our  perfections,  for  we  have  none  ;    but  to  learn 


240  •  PBEDESTINA  TION. 

about  that  Kingdom  of  God  of  which  our  Lord 
spake  so  much  ;  to  learn  about  ourselves  and  about 
God.  For,  there  is  nothing  on  which  we  seem  to 
exercise  our  intelligence  so  lazily  as  on  our  own 
nature  and  its  present  needs  and  future  possibilties. 
Now  when  St  Paul  speaks  of  our  being  predes- 
tinated or  fore-ordained,  he  is  speaking  about  this 
nature  of  ours  and  what  it  was  made  for?  He 
says  in  effect,  that  the  idea  of  a  thing  is  in  the 
constitution  of  the  thing  itself  —  but  it  is  also  in 
the  mind  of  God  before  it  is  in  our  mind.  Fore- 
ordination  is  that  to  which  the  thing  was  ordained 
before  it  w^as  actually  made.  The  idea  of  this 
building  was  in  the  mind  of  the  architect  before  it 
was  ever  put  on  paper,  before  it  was  ever  trans- 
lated into  material  visibility.  And  the  idea  of 
every  part  of  it  was  in  other  minds  before  it  was 
in  his.  The  idea  of  Gothic  architecture  was  sug- 
gested to  the  mind  of  the  first  man  who  attempted 
it,  by  an  avenue  of  trees,  their  branches  hanging 
towards  each  other,  forming  a  pecular  kind  of  arch. 
The  idea  of  man  and  the  destiny  of  man  was  in  the 
Divine  mind  before  this  world  was.  Man  was 
made  according  to  a  divine  idea  and  for  a  definite 
purpose.  Now,  wdien  Jesus  Christ  comes  into 
the  world  Paul  sees  that  there  is  God's  idea  and 
purpose  for  man  fully  and  clearly  revealed.  And 
so  he  begins  to  speak  of  that  for  which  man  was 
predestinated ;  of  that  for  which  he  was  foreor- 


PREDESTINATION.  241 

dained.  His  mind  is  full  of  it.  It  does  not 
depress  him ;  it  inspires  him ;  animates  him, 
makes  life  purer  and  sweeter,  grander  and  more 
glorious.  So  much  so,  that  in  speaking  to  the 
Eomans  with  these  ideas  of  predestination  in  his 
mind,  he  cries  out,  *'If  God  be  for  us,  who  can 
be  against  us."  Fore-ordination  is  God  for  us, 
according  to  the  Apostle.  Predestination  is  God 
for  us,  according  to  the  Apostle.  And  there  can 
be  no  room  for  doubt  that  to  the  mind  of  St  Paul 
these  ideas  had  nothing  in  them  of  gloom  or  de- 
pression. But  they  have  been  so  used  as  to  bring 
gloom  and  depression  to  many  minds.  Predesti- 
nation means  purpose.  It  implies  an  end.  And 
it  implies  the  provision  necessary  to  carry  out  that 
purpose  and  to  accomplish  that  end.  Kightly 
viewed,  it  means  that  the  Creator  does  not  work  at 
random,  nor  blindly,  but  according  to  a  precon- 
ceived idea  and  along  the  line  of  the  law  which 
leads  up  to  making  that  idea  into  a  fact. 

In  every  department  of  life  there  is  the  perfect 
type.  The  perfect  thing  is  the  complete  thing  — 
that  which  cannot  be  improved  upon.  When  the 
Father  of  our  spirits  said,  *'Let  us  make  man" 
he  meant  something  more  by  man  than  you  or  I 
mean.  He  did  not  mean  simply  the  gardener 
Adam,  nor  the  herdsman  Abraham,  nor  the  smart 
bargaining  man  Jacob  —  the  aboriginal  Yankee  — 
nor  the  huntsman  Esau,  nor  the  political  economist 


242  PREDESTINATION 

Joseph,  nor  the  Lawgiver  Moses,  nor  the  physi- 
cally imposing  Saul,  nor  the  philosophical 
Epicurean  Solomon,  not  even  the  magnanimous 
David,  poet,  prophet,  king,  warrior,  saint,  sinner, 
all  in  one,  although  David,  to  our  great  astonish- 
ment is  called,  "  the  man  after  God's  own  heart." 
I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  many  persons  who 
would  be  very  glad  to  get  those  six  words  out  of 
the  record.  This  poet-king's  great  sin  stands 
there  confessed.  Let  us  remember,  that  his  great 
repentance  stands  there  confessed,  too.  There  is 
not  a  doubt  that  David  was  the  greatest  man  of 
his  day,  and  that  in  comparison  with  the  men 
around  him  he  was  among  the  best.  He  was  an 
all  round  man,  physically,  mentally,  spiritually. 
He  touched  the  earth,  and  he  touched  the  heavens, 
at  more  points  than  any  other  man  of  his  time. 
His  sympathies  were  more  varied,  his  nature  was 
larger  than  any  man  who  then  lived.  But  even 
this  man  was  not  the  man  God  meant.  And  we 
do  not  get  to  the  perfect  man  until  we  get  to  Jesus 
the  Christ.  When  he  appears  —  the  very  angels 
of  Heaven  unite  to  cry,  "Arise,  anoint  him,  for 
this  is  He  "  —  this  is  the  man. 

You  and  I  and  all  men  were  predestinated  to  be 
according  to  that  type  and  order.  As  to  the 
quantity  of  our  manhood,  we  cannot  equal  the 
Man  Christ  Jesus ;  as  to  the  quality,  we  may  be 
like  Him.     We  may  be  of  the  same  type.     And 


PREDESTINATION.  243 

it  is  the  type  after  all  which  is  the  criterion.  If 
we  are  of  the  number  of  those  who  seek  to  do  the 
will  of  God,  of  the  number  of  those  who  seek  first 
the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,  then 
we  belong  to  the  type  of  man  which  the  Father  of 
our  spirits  meant  when  He  said,  *'Let  us  make 
man."  I  am  using  scientific  rather  than  theologi- 
cal language  because  many  of  our  theological 
terms  are  worn  thread-bare.  They  are  like  Saul's 
armor,  which  fitted  only  the  man  for  whom  it  was 
made.  Or,  like  some  of  those  coats  of  mail  which 
I  have  seen  hansfins;  in  the  baronial  halls  of  old 
England,  very  well  for  the  men  and  methods  of 
the  past,  but  worse  than  useless  for  the  present. 
No  soldier  would  think  of  wearing  them  in  modern 
warfare.  It  is  of  no  use  our  trying  to  appear 
respectable  in  the  clothes  of  our  grandfathers,  we 
cannot  do  it.  But  the  same  life  which  animated 
them  animates  us.  The  same  Holy  Spirit  of  God 
which  brooded  over  their  hearts  broods  over  ours. 
We  live  on  the  same  earth,  but  we  do  not  put  the 
vegetables  which  they  grew  on  our  tables.  We 
grow  our  own.  And  so  we  have  the  same  Bible 
that  they  had  and  a  better  s^'stem  of  exegesis. 
We  can  interpret  it  for  ourselves,  and  in  our  own 
methods,  and  only  thus  can  we,  in  our  generation, 
be  as  true  to  God  as  they  were  in  theirs.  To  me 
predestination  speaks  of  the  end  which  God  had 
in  making  man,  of  the  type  of  man  that  the  Crea- 


244  PREDESTINATION. 

tor  intended,  and  of  the  unchangeable  purpose 
that  He  has  to  produce  that  type  —  that  type,  the 
perfection  and  consummation  of  which  we  have  in 
Jesus  the  Christ.  A  man  conformed  to  that  type 
is  a  man  after  God's  own  heart,  not  conformed  to 
it  he  is  breaking  away  from  the  destiny  which  God 
intended  for  him. 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  passage  we  are  brought 
face  to  face  with  a  great  truth,  contained  in 
the  words  — ' '  Who  worketh  all  things  according 
to  the  counsel  of  Ills  own  will."  '  Will,'  as 
used  in  Scripture  is  always  associated  with  char- 
acter. The  Divine  will  expresses  the  Divine 
disposition.  We  assume  often  that  whatever  is 
done  on  earth  is  according  to  the  Divine  will,  an 
assumption  for  which  there  is  no  evidence  in  our 
Lord's  teaching.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  we 
may  say  that  whatever  is  done  on  earth  He  doeth 
it,  for  God's  laws  and  decrees  are  working  here  all 
the  time.  But  a  judge  on  the  bench  may  have  to 
commit  his  own  son  to  prison.  He  is  obliged 
to  do  it,  or  be  an  unjust  judge,  and  yet  it  is  not 
according  to  his  will  as  a  father.  He  is  not  dis- 
posed to  do  it.  His  will  is  not  done  when  that 
son  is  sent  to  jail.  And  I  think  that  there  is  no 
more  fruitful  source  of  error  and  wrong  feeling, 
than  the  notion  that  all  the  pains  and  sorrows  and 
losses  and  anxieties  and  burdens  and  afflictions 
of  this  life  are  according  to  God's  will.     They 


PBEDESTINATIOK  245 

most  assuredly  are  not.  Man's  will  has  vaulted 
into  the  place  of  Sovereignty  here  on  this  earth. 
It  has  usurped  the  throne.  Man  has  been  trying 
to  do  his  own  will  here  for  these  past  centuries. 
He  has  been  persistently  refusing  to  do  the  will  of 
God.  And  the  results  are  such  as  we  see.  But 
what  then,  says  one,  do  you  make  of  the  words  of 
the  sacred  penman,  **whom  the  Lord  loveth  He 
chasteneth?"  Read  on.  What  follows?  ''JSFot 
for  His  pleasure^  huiiov  our  profit  that  we  may 
be  partakers  of  His  holiness."  It  is  not  acccord- 
ing  to  the  will  of  God,  to  chasten  us,  but  there  is 
no  other  way  to  bring  us  to  thoughtfulness  and 
seriousness.  And  so,  this  world  in  which  we  live 
does  not  represent  what  society  would  be  if  the 
will  of  God  were  done.  It  is  a  school-house,  not 
a  home.  It  is  a  place  of  discipline,  not  of  rest. 
It  is  a  place  where  man  has  to  learn  a  very  great 
deal  which  is  to  be  useful  to  him  hereafter.  But 
the  will  of  God  is  not  done  here,  speaking  gener- 
ally;  the  will  of  man  is.  And  has  been  for  the 
centuries  past.  Everywhere,  man  is  trampling 
upon  God's  laws  for  the  body.  His  laws  for  the 
mind,  His  laws  for  the  heart.  Everywhere  mer- 
cantilism is  dominatins:  it  over  riahteousness. 
Everywhere,  those  who  are  sincerely  striving  to 
do  God's  will  are  in  a  minority.  And  they  are 
often  last  instead  of  first.  But  in  the  eternal 
future  many  that  are  last  will  be  first  and  many 


246  PREDESTINATION. 

that  are  first  last.  Those  who  are  seeking  to  do 
God's  will  here  are  to  be  the  statesman  and  prime 
ministers  and  leaders  when  God's  Kingdom  shall 
come.  How  do  I  know?  I  know  because  our 
Lord  told  His  disciples  so.  What  else  can  we 
make  of  these  w^ords,  **I  appoint  unto  you  a 
Kingdom,  even  as  my  Father  appointed  unto  me, 
that  ye  may  eat  and  drink  at  my  table  in  my 
Kingdom  (perfect  fellowship)  and  ye  shall  sit  on 
thrones  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel." 
These  were  the  representatives  of  the  Jewish  race 
who  were  doing  God's  will,  and  so  they  were  to 
be  the  judges  and  rulers  of  the  nation  that  was 
not  doing  it. 

Now,  I  am  persuaded  that  we  often  darken  our 
own  understandings  as  to  the  will  of  God,  by 
carelessly  saying,  "  It  is  God's  will,  I  must  sub- 
mit." It  is  right,  it  is  good  to  seek  resignation ;  to 
be  brave  in  the  hour  of  trial,  to  force  down  the 
rebelliousness  of  our  spirits.  And  yet,  to  my 
mind  there  is  more  consolation  in  believins:  that 
none  of  these  sufferings  and  trials  are  expressive 
of  God's  will,  that  they  are  the  inevitable  results 
of  the  rebellious  will  of  man  asserting  itself  from 
generation  to  generation,  until  sin  and  death  reign 
everywhere.  God's  will  is  not  sickness  but 
health,  God's  will  is  not  wretchedness  but  happi- 
ness, God's  will  is  not  death  but  life,  God's  will  is 
not  that  any   should  perish  but  that  all  should 


PREDESTINATION.  247 

come  to  repentance,  God's  will  is  not  hatred, 
revenge,  war,  and  all  the  misery  these  bring. 
Barbarians  may  think  so.  Christians  cannot. 
Judgment  is  his  strange  work,  mercy  is  his 
delight.  Jesus  Christ  revealed  God's  will.  He 
did  God's  will.  He  died  to  tell  us,  in  the  most 
emphatic  way  possible,  that  man's  rebellion  was 
the  trampling  upon  holy  love ;  that  it  was  not 
God's  will  we  should  sin  and  suffer  and  heap  up 
miseries  for  ourselves ;  that  the  more  we  do  our 
own  wills,  irrespective  of  God,  the  more  we  add 
to  the  accumulated  miseries  of  our  race.  Believe 
this,  as  you  must,  if  you  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus 
and  learn  of  Him,  and  the  God  revealed  in 
Jesus  Christ  becomes  the  great  attractive  centre  to 
which  the  mind  turns,  and  the  accumulated  cruel- 
ties of  the  world  —  its  diseases,  its  malignities,  its 
despotisms  —  its  wars,  and  all  the  myriad  miseries 
which  afflict  it,  are  man's  and  not  God's.  When 
man  separates  himself  from  God,  ignores  God, 
and  lives  self-centred,  lives  independently  of  God, 
lives  as  though  he  -did  not  belong  to  a  constitution 
of  thins^s  of  which  God  is  the  centre,  he  is  addinjr 
fuel  to  the  fire  which  the  self-willed  have  already 
lit ;  he  is  storing  up  for  himself,  and  for  others, 
sorrow  and  trouble.  And  then  he  turns  round 
upon  Divine  Providence  and  charges  it  with  his 
own  miseries.  He  says  ''  God  is  cruel,  God  is 
unkind."     Nay ;  it  is  man  that  is  cruel,  man  that 


248  PREDESTINATION. 

is  unkind.  Our  Lord  never  said,  "Beware  of 
God"  but  ''beware  of  men."  We  have  to  be 
delivered  from  the  tyranny  of  man,  not  from  God. 
The  tyranny  of  man  over  man  has  been  and  is 
something  appalling.  We  call  it  by  various 
misleading  names,  that  which  is  proper,  that  which 
is  the  fashion  and  so  on.  The  simple  questions 
of  what  is  right  and  what  wrong,  what  is  healthy 
and  good,  what  is  the  will  of  God,  these  are  sel- 
dom asked.  We  want  to  get  rid  of  the  pains  and 
penalties  of  the  present  and  the  future,  but  we  are 
not  filled  full  of  the  conviction  that  there  is  only 
one  way  to  get  rid  of  them,  to  find  out  what  is 
God's  will,  and  do  it.  When  Jesus  the  Christ 
was  here  on  earth  he  said,  *'  I  came  not  to  do  my 
own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me."  And 
the  difference  between  the  godly  and  the  godless 
is  here,  the  one  are  the  willing,  the  other  the 
wilful.  All  law  and  order  must  rest  on  some 
immovable  foundation,  and  there  is  none  to  be 
found  but  this,  the  revealed  will  of  God.  We 
are  drifting  towards  anarchy  in  the  family,  in  the 
Church  and  in  the  nation  so  long  as  we  magnify 
individualism  and  idolize  something  we  call  free- 
dom, which  with  many,  means  nothing  less  than 
anarchy,  trampling  upon  all  law  and  order  human 
and  divine,  and  exalting  the  will  of  the  creature 
into  supremacy.  Those  of  us  who  are  of  the 
Church  of  God  have  to  proclaim  the  exact  opposite 


PREDE8TmAT10N.  249 

of  this,  for  we  are  bound  in  the  same  bundle  of 
life  with  Him  whose  boast  it  was  ' '  I  came  not  to 
do  my  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him  that 
sent  me." 


\ 


XVIII. 
SELF-IMPEOYEMENT. 


"  Take  heed  to  thyself  and  to  thy  teaching." — i  Tim.,  iv :   i6. 

GENIUS,"  says  a  modern  writer,  <'is  the  pas- 
sion for  self-improvement."  While  we 
may  be  of  opinion  that  this  is  not  an  adequate 
definition,  inasmuch  as  oftentimes  we  have  met 
with  men  and  women  in  whom  there  seemed  to  be 
something:  of  that  we  call  c^enius,  without  that 
temper  which  leads  a  man  to  aim  at  steady  self- 
improvement,  yet  there  is  enough  of  truth  in  this 
definition  to  warrant  the  afiirmation  that  genius 
is  never  effective  unless  it  includes  the  passion 
for  self-improvement.  From  a  merely  human 
point  of  view,  the  Apostle  Paul  was  a  man  of 
genius.  This  man  comes  before  the  world  with 
a  life  as  heroic  as  that  which  any  man  ever  lived, 
and  a  few  letters,  written,  some  to  churches  and 
two  or  three  to  individuals.  Yet  this  life 
and  these  letters  have  immortalized  him.  Inspir- 
ation and  genius  are  not  the  same  thing.  The 
Divine    Inspiration    wakes   the   genius   into   life. 

250 


SELF-IMPROVEMENT.  251 

That  which  is  best  in  any  man,  that  which  is  most 
characteristic  of  him,  will  arise  from  its  dormancy 
and  latency  under  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  of 
God.  Thus,  there  is  in  nature  room  for  that 
beautiful  variety  of  Christian  character  without 
which  there  would  be  an  unedifying  monotomy, 
a  tame  uniformity  in  our  Christian  life.  It  has 
been  assumed  that  if  a  man  has  genius  he  does  not 
need  to  be  careful  of  himself,  he  does  not  need  to 
aim  at  self-improvement.  The  very  opposite  is 
the  true  state  of  the  case.  It  is  the  blood  horse 
that  needs  the  most  careful  training.  *'  Take  heed 
to  thyself"  is  a  word  necessary  for  us  all,  but  it  is 
especially  necessary  for  those  of  full  vitality  ;  for 
those  in  whose  veins  the  hot  blood  seems  to  course 
rapidly  ;  for  those  of  highly-strung  nervous  or- 
ganization ;  for  those  whose  impulses  are  fiery  ; 
whose  temperament  is  ardent ;  whose  souls  have 
in  them  a  craving  that  seems  insatiable.  If  these 
do  not  take  heed  to  themselves,  there  will  be  dis- 
aster. A  well-balanced  nature,  in  which  the 
physical,  mental,  and  moral  seem  to  be  in  happy 
equilibrium,  is  not  always  found,  perhaps  seldom. 
Some  one  department  of  our  organism  seems  to 
predominate.  The  tendency  is  to  cultivate  that 
which  it  is  most  easy  to  cultivate,  to  the  neglect 
of  the  other.  Consequently,  the  whole  nature  is 
thrown  out  of  balance  and  a  condition  of  chronic 
unhappiness  is  the  result. 


252  SELF-IMPROVEMENT. 

I  want  that  we  should  think  together  this  morn- 
ing of  Self-improvement,  though  the  theme  seems 
juvenile ;  one  more  fitted  for  a  young  men's 
debating  society  than  for  a  Christian  congregation. 
We  need  not,  however,  be  afraid  that  under  the 
leadership  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  we  shall  keep  on 
a  level  that  is  unworthy  of  the  most  experienced 
Christian.  I  would  ask  you  to  remark  upon  the 
advice  which  the  great  Apostle  gives  to  Timothy, 
one  of  the  earliest  presbyters  of  the  Christian 
Church.  Though  this  man  must  have  had  special 
qualifications  for  his  work,  yet  these  special  quali- 
fications did  not  preclude  the  necessity  for  diligent 
improvement  of  his  mental  powers.  *'Till  I 
come  (saj^s  the  Apostle  Paul)  give  heed  to  read- 
ing, to  exhortation,  to  teaching.  Neglect  not  the 
gift  that  is  in  thee.  Take  heed  to  thyself  and  to 
thy  teaching."  He  is  urged  to  do  everything  he 
can  towards  self-improvement.  On  that  must 
depend  his  usefulness.  There  is  no  recognition 
here  of  any  supernatural  grace  which  would  relieve 
him  from  the  use  of  those  means  whereby  ordinary 
men  bring  their  minds  into  an  ability  of  perceiv- 
inof  what  is  truth  and  what  error.  There  are  no 
claims  such  as  that  of  *' Apostolic  succession." 
The  man  must  learn  how  to  use  the  ordinary 
opportunities  for  self-improvement  which  are 
within  his  reach,  in  order  that  he  may  be  qualified 
to  do  God's  work.     He  must  take  heed  to  himself 


SELF-IMPROVEMENT.  253 

first,  or  his  teaching  will  not  be  as  full  of  light 
and  of  force  as  it  ought  to  be. 

And  so  it  is  with  those  of  us  who,  in  this  year 
of  our  Lord  1885,  are  the  disciples  of  Christ,  here 
and  now.  ^^ot  many  men  have  any  inward  call, 
or  any  outward  qualification  to  do  public  religious 
teaching.  But,  not  one  of  us  is  released  from  the 
sweep  of  this  injunction  *'  Take  heed  unto  thy- 
self." Every  man  of  us  is  a  trinity  in  unity, 
body,  soul,  spirit.  We  have  physical,  mental  and 
spiritual  needs ;  physical,  mental  and  spiritual 
abilities  —  these  constitutionally.  They  are  in- 
cluded in  the  word  ''manhood."  The  physical 
is  the  pediment  on  which  the  mental  and  spiritual 
stand.  It  is  that  which  confines  them  to  this  earth. 
It  limits  and  modifies  their  use.  There  is  some- 
thing that  we  have  to  learn  within  these  present 
limitations,  which  will  be  useful  to  us  always. 
Everything  must  have  a  beginning,  and  that 
beginning  has  necessarily  to  be  conditioned.  For 
how  long  our  nature  is  capable  of  growth  we  can- 
not say.  What  processes  it  has  to  pass  through 
before  it  reaches  that  condition  in  which  life  is 
blissful  receptivity  and  enjoyment  of  all  around 
it  —  of  these  we  are  i^^norant.  But  ojrowth  is  the 
law  of  our  present  state.  We  soon  come  to 
the  end  of  our  physical  growth ;  and  strange 
though  it  seems,  very  many  seem  soon  to  come  to 
the  end  of  their  mental  growth,  although  it  must 


254  SELF-IMPROVEMENT. 

be  only  in  seeming.  But  no  one  ever  comes  to 
the  limit  of  spiritual  growth  so  long  as  he  is  on 
this  earth.  We  seem  only  to  begin  that.  The 
most  advanced  Christian  is  but  a  little  way  on  that 
road,  the  end  of  which  is  perfect  accord  mentally 
and  afFectionally  with  the  mind  and  heart  of  our 
Father  in  Heaven. 

Now,  w^e  have  to  recognize  distinctly  and  clearly 
that  the  lower  is  for  the  sake  of  the  hiij^her.  It  is 
in  service  to  it.  The  physical  is  for  the  sake  of 
the  mental,  the  mental  for  the  sake  of  the  emo- 
tional, and  all  for  the  sake  of  the  spiritual.  There 
cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  any  real  self- 
improvement  so  long  as  our  ideas  on  the  relation 
of  the  lower  to  the  higher  are  wrong.  There  is 
no  possibility  of  any  man  living  the  life  for  which 
he  was  predestinated  until  he  apprehends  truly 
something  about  his  own  nature.  Xor  is  there 
any  possibility  of  improvement  until  that  which  is 
uppermost  in  man  constitutionally  becomes  upper- 
most in  thought.  Inadequate  views  of  human 
nature  are  at  the  root  of  personal  miseries  and 
social  perplexities.  The  wise  old  sage  who  said, 
* '  Know  thyself "  said  more  than  he  knew\  The 
words  mean  more  now  than  they  meant  then. 
Man's  view  of  himself  as  to  what  he  is  and  what 
destined  for  must  affect  him  beneficially  or  other- 
wise in  all  relations  of  life  and  in  all  that  he  does. 
Supposing  a  man  has  this  view  of  life,  "  I  am  here 


SELF-niPnOYEMENT.  255 

to  be  as  happy  as  I  can  make  myself,  here  to 
enjoy  myself,  here  simply  to  have  a  good  time." 
That  is  the  dominating  idea.  You  see  at  a  glance 
its  limitations.  N^o  heroism  can  ever  come  out  of 
it ;  nothing  really  good  or  great  or  sublime.  No 
man  moving  under  the  influence  of  that  idea  has 
ever  done  anything  of  worth  or  value.  In  the 
olden  days  they  would  have  called  it  the  Epicurean 
view  of  life.  Take  another  view  of  life,  that  in 
which  a  man  sees  something  to  be  done  out 
of  which  comes  a  material  reward.  The  idea  of 
duty  dawns  upon  him,  eventually  takes  possession 
of  him,  masters  him,  and  under  its  influence  he 
denies  himself  much  to  which  other  men  are 
inclined,  and  becomes  the  world's  successful  man 
in  that  region  concerning  which  we  cannot  use  any 
other  words  than  those  which  convey  respect  —  the 
commercial.  This  man  becomes  stoical.  He  uses 
one  department  of  his  nature  only.  He  acquires, 
it  may  be,  that  kind  of  wealth  which  is  represented 
by  money,  but  he  never  acquires  the  ability  of 
using  his  wealth  benevolently  so  that  it  will 
yield  the  best  profit  to  himself  and  others.  The 
first  man  is  selfish  in  one  way,  and  this  man  is 
selfish  in  another  way,  but  he  is  a  better  type  of 
man  than  the  first.  The  Stoic  was  a  better  man 
than  the  Epicurean. 

We  might  bring  other  types  of  men  forward  in 
illustration,  but  these  two  will  suffice.     In  both 


266  SELF-IMPRO  VEMENT, 

cases  the  nature  is  depreciated  below  that  for 
which  it  was  predestinated.  Neither  man  will 
ever  be  good  or  noble.  There  is  no  possibility  of 
it.  The  idea  which  these  men  have  of  manhood 
and  its  meaning  and  purpose  is  very  much  lower 
than  God's  idea  written  in  the  constitution  of  man. 
The  first  man  never  could  be  happy  and  the  second 
man  never  can  be  satisfied.  Why?  Because,  in 
both  cases,  the  nature  is  larger  than  the  idea  which 
controls  and  dominates  it.  Man  is  unhappy  and 
dissatisfied  when  his  conduct  is  at  war  with  the 
upper  ranges  of  his  nature.  These  two  men  will 
find  entertainment  in  their  several  lines.  In  youth 
the  epicurean  style  of  life  has  its  attractions,  even 
its  fascinations  ;  in  manhood  a  life  of  duty  even  if 
there  be  in  it  no  benevolence,  no  room  for  affec- 
tions and  emotions  to  exercise  themselves,  yields 
a  certain  real  satisfaction.  But  the  more  humane 
part  of  the  nature  is  beggared  and  hungry.  **  The 
eye  is  not  satisfied  with  seeing,  nor  the  ear  with 
hearing."  The  spiritual  part  of  man  is  clamorous. 
It  wants  its  dues,  or  its  wine  turns  to  venegar ;  its 
milk  of  human  kindness  to  gall.  The  physical  is 
not  here  for  itself,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  mental, 
the  mental  is  not  here  for  itself,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  emotional  and  the  affectional ;  and  the 
emotional  and  the  aff*ectional  are  here  for  the  sake 
of  that  which  is  permanent  and  indestructible  in 
man's  nature  —  the  spiritual.     As  a  child  cries  for 


SELF  IMPROVEMENT.  257 

its  mother  so  the  spiritual  in  man  cries  out  for  its 
Father,  God  —  **  My  soul  is  athirst  for  God,  for  the 
living  God,  when  shall  I  come  and  appear  before 
God  ?  "  No  direr  source  of  misery  can  ever  come 
to  a  human  soul  than  to  be  practically  atheistic, 
for  *'  without  God"  means  *'  without  hope,"  and 
hopelessness  is  the  collapse  of  all  that  is  highest 
and  best  in  human  nature  —  the  total  eclipse  of 
the  soul.  He  who  makes  another  man  an  Atheist 
has  done  the  crudest  thing  of  which  man  is  capa- 
ble. He  has  blotted  out  the  Sun  in  the  spirit's 
firmament. 

We  see  then  that  there  is  a  limit  soon  reached 
to  physical  self-improvement,  and  a  limit  also 
soon  reached  to  improvement  arising  out  of  any 
type  or  style  of  life  which  is  dominated  by  the  idea 
of  pleasing  one's  self  simply,  or  of  doing  duty 
which  has  relation  only  to  that  which  is  seen  and 
temporal.  Every  man,  even  the  smallest  and 
meanest,  is  larger  constitutionally  than  his  business 
and  larger  than  his  pleasures  —  using  that  word 
as  it  is  ordinarily  used.  Man's  self,  what  the  phil- 
osophers would  call  '*  the  ego  "is  that  which  needs 
to  be  continuously  improved.  And  with  its 
improvement  everything  else  belonging  to  the  man 
will  be  raised,  will  be  expanded,  will  be  developed 
into  a  higher  power.  Let  the  lower  nature  serve 
the  higher,  and  the  higher  will  give  back  to  the 
lower  something  in  return  of  great  value.     Every- 


258  SELL-IMPROVEMENT. 

thing  in  a  man  wakes  up  when  his  spiritual  nature 
is  awake.  If  a  man  be  an  artist,  he  is  a  better 
artist  when  his  spiritual  nature  is  awakened.  The 
costliest  pictures  in  all  Europe  are  those  in  which 
the  artists  have  aimed  at  bodying  forth  spiritual 
themes.  It  must  be  so.  Pigments  and  canvass, 
with^rushes  and  palets,  do  not  make  a  man  an 
artist.  He  may  be  a  dealer  in  colors,  like  the  man 
at  the  store  who  sells  them,  only  on  a  slightly 
higher  level.  But  no  man  ever  yet  did  the  high- 
est work  of  which  he  is  capable  till  his  heart  was 
awake,  till  the  nature  began  to  move  and  aspire. 
And  the  heart  will  not  wake,  the  spiritual  in  man 
will  not  move  in  the  regions  limited  by  time  and 
sense.  Visiting  recently  the  picture  galleries  of 
London,  there  was  much  that  was  pleasing,  much 
to  excite  interest  and  even  wonder,  but  the  most 
impressive  painting  even  in  this  matter-of-fact  age, 
is  that  which  cannot  be  done  except  under  the 
high  inspirations  which  belong  to  meditation  on 
Christian  themes.  Muncacksy's  *' Calvary"  and 
Holman  Hunt's  '*  Triumph  of  the  Innocents"  — 
a  fanciful  picture  representing  the  souls  of  the 
murdered  innocents  of  Bethlehem  following  Jesus 
as  He  is  taken  to  Egypt, —  these  were  the  most 
impressive  modern  pictures  in  all  London.  The 
child  painting  in  Holman  Hunt's  picture  seems 
more  like  the  old  master's  with  the  freedom  and 
freshness  of  modern  times  added.     A  sum  equal 


SELF-IMPROVEMENT.  259 

to  three-hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars 
was  given  very  recently  by  the  British  Government 
for  a  religious  painting.  Artists  of  all  classes 
never  seem  to  do  their  utmost  and  best  till  the 
spiritual  nature  comes  into  vigorous  exercise. 
And  so  it  is  every  where.  No  man  is  really 
himself  until  the  spirit  within  him  is  awake.  The 
New  Testament  calls  him  *'dead"  till  then.  It 
admonishes  him  in  this  wise  "  Awake  thou  that 
sleepest  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall 
give  thee  light."  It  is  all  but  literally  true  that  a 
man  is  never  alive  until  that  which  is  characteristic 
of  him,  as  man,  is  alive. 

And  the  distinctive  thing  in  man,  that  which 
elevates  him  above  all  other  creations  is,  that  he 
can  consciously,  and  of  set  intent  and  purpose, 
worship  God.  He  can  anticipate  a  future,  he  is 
so  constituted  that  he  can  plan  and  work  towards 
an  ideal  which  fills  the  imagination,  however  vivid 
it  may  be.  No  other  animate  creature  can  do 
this.  To  do  this  is  to  act  as  a  man,  to  do  any- 
thing less  is  to  fall  below  the  dignity  of  a  man. 
Self-improvement  is,  then,  the  improvement  of  the 
spiritual  nature. 

A  type  of  religious  life  has  been  prevalent,  we 
might  say  dominant,  in  the  past  which  has  almost 
lost  sight  of  three-fourths  of  the  Pauline  theology, 
anyway  of  the  Pauline  ethics.  To  get  a  man  con- 
verted accordin^r  to  the  Calvinistic  idea  of  conver- 


260  SELF-IMPROVEMENT. 

sion,  and  then  pretty  much  to  leave  him  as 
necessarily  in  a  condition  of  safety,  this  has  been 
dominant.  Conversion  means  turning  the  life 
Christwards  instead  of  turning  the  back  upon 
Christ  and  His  salvation.  But  to  turn  round  and 
stand  still  is  not  the  Apostolic  idea  of  being  a 
Christian.  Any  new  truth  entering  the  mind 
brings  light,  and  light  means  life  and  life  means 
activity.  How  is  it  possible  for  a  man,  into  whose 
mind  has  come  the  truth  of  a  Eedeemer  in  Christ, 
into  whose  heart  has  come  a  new  love,  the  love  of 
that  Eedeemer,  how  is  it  possible  for  him  to  be 
the  same  he  was  before?  To  stand  and  gaze  at 
Christ  Jesus  is  not  conversion  —  to  receive  Him 
is.  *'To  them  that  received  Him  to  them  ^ave 
He  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God."  Conver- 
sion is  the  first  step  in  a  new  and  higher  life.  It 
is  the  man  claiming  that  which,  in  God's  ordain- 
ment,  belongs  to  him.  It  is  the  first  step  so  far 
as  individual  choice  is  concerned  to  realizing  one's 
manhood.  But  we  do  a  man  harm  if  we  make  so 
much  of  it  that  all  else  is  as  nothing.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  a  Teacher,  "He  shall  teach  you  all 
thins^s."  We  are  at  school  —  learninof  how  to  be 
men  and  women  according  to  God's  idea  of  men 
and  women.  How  is  our  spiritual  nature  to  be 
developed  into  more  and  yet  more  until  it  becomes 
the  undisputed  sovereign  of  our  constitution  ?  The 
parable  of  our  necessities  is  found  in  the  material 


SELF-IMPROVEMENT.  261 

frame.  It  can  healthfully  live  only  in  an  atmo- 
sphere suited  to  it.  It  needs  for  its  nourishment 
food  convenient  for  it.  It  needs  exercise.  So  it 
is  with  us  mentally.  So  is  it  spiritually.  Christ- 
ianity is  the  atmosphere  suited  to  the  spirit's  life. 
That  spirit  needs  truth  to  feed  upon.  It  needs 
fellowship  with  other  spirits.  Whatever  promotes 
faith  purifies  the  soul.  Whatever  generates  hope 
puts  courage  into  the  soul,  whatever  intensifies 
affection  warms  and  vitalizes  the  spirit  of  man. 
We  know  from  experience  of  eighteen  hundred 
and  more  years  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  world 
which  does  this  like  the  Christian  religion.  The 
best,  the  strongest,  the  grandest  specimens  of 
manhood  have  grown  up  under  the  inspiration 
of  the  facts  and  truths  of  Christianity.  There  are 
other  religions  in  the  world,  and  I  would  not 
deprive  men  of  them  if  I  could  not  give  them 
something  better.  It  it  is  better  for  a  man  to  be 
chained  even  to  the  idea  of  God  as  over  him  than 
to  be  without  the  idea.  It  is  much  better  to  be 
held  to  the  allegiance  we  owe  to  Deity  by  an  at- 
traction which  draws  our  spirits  into  loving  and 
reverent  homage.  It  is  impossible  to  compel  any 
man  to  be  a  Christian  because  it  is  impossible  to 
compel  love.  The  heart  of  man  must  feel  drawn 
to  the  object  set  before  it.  And  so  we  fail  to  do 
any  justice  to  the  Christian  religion  unless  its 
relation  to  the  heart  of  man  be  presented  so  as  to 


262  SELF-IMPBOVEMENT. 

wake  that  heart  into  response.  Along  this  line 
all  self-improvement  must  proceed.  We  must 
take  heed  to  ourselves. 

I  venture  to  add  that  there  is  no  spiritual  self- 
improvement  that  is  worth  anything  apart  from 
plan  and  purpose.  A  spasmodic  religiousness 
will  do  little.  If  a  young  man  at  college  should 
study  only  when  he  feels  in  the  humor  he  would 
be  disgraced.  If  a  man  of  business  should  go  to 
his  store  or  office  only  when  the  fit  takes  him  he 
would  be  bankrupt.  Is  it  likely  that  these 
methods  of  action  will  bankrupt  men  on  these 
lower  levels,  and  save  them  from  bankruptcy  on 
the  higher?  A  spasmodic  religiousness  without 
high  purpose  and  intelligent  plan  is  the  bane  of 
our  time.  Spiritual  self-improvement  means  so 
using  the  upper  regions  of  our  nature  as  that  there 
shall  be  development  and  enlargement  of  our 
powers.  It  means  that  this  should  be  done  in 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  we  are  spirits  destined 
to  live  on,  destined  to  use  hereafter  all  that  here 
we  have  acquired  of  faith  and  hope  and  love  in  a 
wider  and  more  blessed  condition.  No  material 
wealth  can  we  take  with  us  hence,  but  that  inward 
wealth  Avhich  consists  in  high  aspirations,  purified 
aflfections,  a  will  consenting  to  the  Divine  will, 
faculty  co-ordinated  to  the  needs,  services  and 
delights  of  a  condition  more  glorious  than  * '  eye 
has  ever  seen  or  ear  ever  heard,"  that  we  can  take 


8ELF-IMPR0  VEMENT.  263 

with  us,  that  which  shall  warrant  our  Lord  in 
saying  to  us  "Thou  hast  been  faithful  in  a  few 
things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things — • 
enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 


XIX. 
WEAEINESS  IN  WELL-DOING. 


And  let  us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing;    for  in  due  season  we 
shall  reap  if  we  faint  not —  Galatians,  vi,  9. 

THESE  words  are  necessarily  addressed  to 
those  who  are  already  engaged  in  well- 
doing, and  who,  being  so  engaged  are  in  danger, 
of  ceasing  therefrom  because  of  the  weariness 
which  inevitably  attends  the  putting  forth  of  effort 
of  any  kind.  Weariness  may  be  of  three  kinds, 
it  may  be  muscular,  or  mental,  or  spiritual. 
Muscular  weariness  comes  from  long  continued 
physical  effort ;  mental  weariness  from  excessive 
attention  to  such  matters  as  demand  thought ; 
spiritual  weariness  from  loss  of  faith  in  a  cause, 
or  loss  of  love  to  it,  or  loss  of  hope  of  any  tangible 
results.  It  is  to  this  last  kind  of  weariness  that 
the  Apostle  refers.  It  may  include  the  others  as 
nothing  w^orth  the  doing  can  be  accomplished 
unless  the  resources  of  the  mind  are  expended  in 
the  doing  of  it.     Well-doing  may  be  of  two  kinds, 

264 


WEARINESS  IN  WELL-DOING.  265 

subjective,  the  doing  well  to  ourselves  simply, 
objective,  the  doing  well  towards  others.  It  is 
quite  true  that  we  cannot  very  w^ell  separate  these, 
for  as  Seneca  says,  ^'Ile  that  does  good  to 
another  man  does  good  also  unto  himself,  not  only 
in  the  consequences,  but  in  the  very  act  of  doing 
it,  for  the  conscience  of  well-doing  is  an  ample 
reward."  If  a  man  should  set  himself  to  improve 
his  mind  and  manners  simply  out  of  a  desire  to  be 
something  better  than  he  had  been,  he  would  still, 
in  the  doing,  be  helping  others,  for  he  would 
become  a  more  valuable  member  of  society.  And 
on  the  other  hand,  no  man  can  set  himself  to  do 
good  to  others  without  receiving  good  himself. 
Hence,  it  must  appear  to  us  that  God,  in  His 
providence,  has  so  ordered  it  that  well-doing  is 
necessary  to  well-being.  Every  one  not  imbecile 
wishes  well  to  himself.  God  has  so  appointed  it 
that  well-doing  shall  be  necessary  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  soul  to  the  highest  degree  of  blessed- 
ness of  which  it  is  capable. 

It  is  assumed,  however,  that  there  is  a  strong 
temptation  to  grow  weary  in  well-doing,  to  cease 
from  good  activities  ;  to  let  opportunities  pass  un- 
improved ;  to  allow  the  best  of  causes  to  suffer 
from  want  of  giving  them  that  assistance  which  it 
is  competent  to  us  to  give. 

And  this  for  three  reasons.  1.  On  accouut  of 
the   indolence   of  our   nature.      Unless    we    are 


266  WEARINESS  IN  WELL-DOING. 

tempted  to  a  thing  by  some  immediate  pleasure 
belonging  to  it,  or  goaded  to  it  by  some  stern 
necessity,  there  is  in  us  all  a  tendency  to  relapse 
into  a  condition  of  indifference  and  repose.  Our 
physical  nature  seems  to  yield  readily  to  the  great 
law  of  gravitation  to  which  everything  material  is 
subject,  and  oftentimes  we  too  readily  obey  the 
lowest  of  all  forces  by  which  we  are  influenced. 
To  such  an  extent  may  we  yield  to  the  material 
part  of  our  being  that  it  becomes  tyrannous,  the 
muscles  refuse  to  do  their  duty  readily,  the  diges- 
tion relapses  from  a  healthy  tone,  and  the  w^hole 
system  becomes  impaired.  And  as  saintship  has, 
somehow  or  other,  become  associated  with  a  pale 
face,  a  feeble  voice,  and  general  physical  incom- 
petence, anyone  is  at  a  disadvantage  who  pleads 
for  health  of  bodj^  as  a  duty,  ]:)ecause  of  its  rela- 
tion to  health  of  mind  and  health  of  soul. 

There  is  the  temptation  to  grow  weary  in  well-do- 
ing not  only  on  account  of  the  indolence  of  our  na- 
ture but  also,  2nd,  on  account  of  not  seeing  adequate 
results  to  our  efforts.  I  think  that  probably  this  is 
one  of  the  most  general  reasons  for  weariness  in  the 
matter  of  positive  well-doing.  The  man  whose 
mind  has  been  schooled  and  formed  in  the  com- 
mercial world,  especially  if  he  has  achieved  large 
results  in  a  brief  period  of  time,  assumes  that  he 
and  others  ought  to  have  something  equally  tangi- 
ble  to   show  for   the   expenditure   of  mind   and 


WEARINESS  m  well-doing:  267 

feeling  in  those  directions  which  are  generally 
included  under  the  words  "well-doing."  We  are 
constantly  hearing  of  the  disappointments  which 
come  to  all  Christian  workers  ;  indeed  of  the  dis- 
couragements which  come  to  all  benevolent  helpers 
of  all  kinds.  We  hear  far  too  much  of  this.  Let 
it  be  recognized  by  us  that  the  results  of  work  on 
mind  and  heart  are  not  as  immediate,  certainly 
not  as  visible,  as  the  results  of  work  in  anything 
material,  and  that  they  require  in  order  to  discern 
them,  and  estimate  them  aright,  a  different  order 
of  mind,  and  that  will  do  something  to  correct 
wrong  impressions.  There  is  a  book  published 
entitled  "The  History  of  Humane  Progress  under 
Christianity,"  which  ought  to  be  sufficient  to  help 
any  who  read  it  to  take  a  broader  view  of  this 
question  of  results  than  is  generally  done.  More- 
ov^er,  no  man  but  he  who  is  unreasonable  would 
ever  expect  to  measure  mental  and  spiritual 
results  by  the  rules  of  Arithmetic.  Religious  sta- 
tistics are  necessary,  I  suppose,  but  they  are  not 
the  less  misleading  and  unreliable.  In  the  olden 
times  Jehovah  taught  Gideon  and  David  that 
influence  did  not  depend  on  numbers.  I  know 
how  we  are  all  influenced  by  appearances  ;  we  like 
outsides  to  be  respectable.  That  does  us  no 
harm,  so  long  as  we  do  not  substitute  appearances 
for  that  which  is  invisible,  mind,  heart,  character. 
Quality  is  always  more  than  quantity.     I  have  no 


268  WEARINESS  IN  WELL-DOING. 

doubt  that  some  of  the  greatest  men  mentally,  and 
the  devoutest  spiritually,  among  the  New  England 
clergy  of  to-day  are  to  be  found  in  villages,  min- 
istering to  a  small  handful  of  people  who  have 
not  the  first  approach  to  an  idea  of  the  quality  of 
the  man  in  their  pulpit.  And  that  man  may  be 
the  very  type  and  synonym  of  faithfulness ; 
faithfulness^  that  which  our  Lord  requires,  that 
about  which  he  always  speaks.  Nothing  else 
does  he  ask  from  any  of  us  than  this  —  to  be 
faithful  —  faithful  to  the  truth  as  we  see  it,  faith- 
ful to  the  opportunity  he  gives,  whatever  come  or 
do  not  come  from  our  using  that  opportunity  as 
well  as  we  can. 

I  grant  you  that  large  results  are  often  given. 
But  the  word  ' '  results  "  is  a  very  indefinite  kind 
of  word.  It  may  be  that  the  results  which  God 
can  give  are  not  the  results  which  you  mean. 
**  Only  one  soul  brought  to  Christ  by  all  my 
efforts,"  says  a  discouraged  Sunday  School 
teacher.  Let  us  look  at  that  expression  a  moment. 
Supposing  that  Sunday  School  teacher  had  Imilt 
the  Pyramids  it  would  have  been  undeniably  a 
great  result  of  persistent  labor,  but  it  would  have 
been  such  labor  as  would  last  at  the  longest  for  a 
limited  time,  and  its  use  would  be  problematical, 
for  we  are  not  very  sure  why  and  for  what  the 
p^^amids  were  built.  Supposing  one  soul  is 
brought   to   Christ,    and   permanently   united  to 


WEARINESS  IN  WELL-DOING.  269 

Christ  by  the  love  and  faith  of  the  heart,  so  united 
that  that  8oul  becomes  a  faithful  Christian  soul, 
living  a  life  of  love  and  faith,  doing  good  to  others, 
and  those  others  doing  good  to  a  wider  circle 
still,  and  so  from  generation  to  generation  the  in- 
fluence broadens,  how  can  you  calculate  the  result? 
Admit  the  Immortality  of  that  soul,  follow  it 
beyond  the  confines  of  the  present,  into  Eternity ; 
what  then?  The  results  are  not  measured,  nor 
are  they  measurable.  Who  has  done  the  greatest 
work,  he  who  built  the  pyramids,  or  that  discour- 
aged Sunday  School  teacher  who  brought  one  soul 
to  Christ,  into  living  miion  w^ith  the  life-giving 
Savior?  Am  I  romancing  in  making  such  a 
comparison?  Is  there  anything  unreasonable  in 
suggesting  that  work  in  that  material  which  we 
call  "  mind  "  and  '*soul"  is  essentially  different 
from  work  on  matter  ?  If  our  Lord  could  ask  the 
question  and  yet  be  reasonable,  **  what  shall  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose 
his  own  soul  ?  If  He  could  put  a  * '  soul  "  against  a 
*'  world  "  and  appraise  it  as  more  valuable,  is  the 
comparison  we  have  made  illegitimate?  Results 
are  not  to  be  estimated  by  material  or  arithmetical 
measurements.  In  speaking  to  any  who  have  been 
engaged  in  well-doing  and  have  become  weary  in 
it,  I  would  rather  remind  them  that  our  Lord  does 
not  put  us  upon  achieving  results  but  upon  being 
faithful  to  Him  and  our  convictions.     If  tangible 


270  WEARINESS  IN  WELL-DOING. 

or  visible  results  come,  we  will  be  all  the  more 
thankful,  but  if  not,  the  duty  of  faithfulness  still 
remains.  Some  results  are  sure  to  come.  An 
Apostle  who  knew  what  it  was  to  live  a  martyr's 
life  has  left  it  on  record,  that  no  good,  honest, 
Christian  work  ever  yet  failed,  *'  Be  ye  steadfast, 
unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is 
not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

3.  And  this  brings  me  to  a  third  source  of 
weariness  and  discouragement  in  well-doing,  our 
narrow  and  inadequate  views  of  life.  We  con- 
stantly forget  that  this  life  of  ours  is,  as  to  every- 
thing mental  and  spiritual,  the  sowing  time,  not 
the  time  of  reaping.  Evidently  this  is  the  thought 
in  the  mind  of  the  Apostle,  "  for,  in  due  season, 
ye  shall  reap  if  ye  faint  not."  The  idea  of  reaping 
involves  the  idea  of  sowing. 

When  a  farmer  sows  seed  he  virtually  commits 
it  to  fructifying  influences  over  which  he  has  no 
control.  He  cannot  command  the  sunlight,  nor 
the  rain,  nor  a  suitable  season  for  ingathering. 
He  is  obliged  to  trust  in  a  power  not  his  own,  and 
in  a  beneficence  which  he  calls  Nature,  but  which 
means  God.  And  so  when  we  sow  seeds  of  truth 
in  a  human  mind,  or  the  seeds  of  kindly  deeds  in 
human  hearts,  we  commit  the  seed  to  God  and 
His  Providence.  And  as  the  farmer  has  long 
patience,  so  ought  we  to  have  long  patience.     But 


WEARINESS  IN  WELL-DOING.  271 

patience  is  one  of  the  higher  virtues  —  it  is  not 
the  same  as  indifference  or  laziness,  nor  is  it  *  a 
dogged  obstinacy  under  difficulties ' —  it  is  some- 
thing else  than  these,  the  abih'ty  to  labor  and  to 
wait ;  the  ability  to  stand  in  face  of  a  mysterious 
providence,  not  knowing  what  it  means,  or  why 
and  wherefore  it  is  sent,  and  wait  those  evolve- 
ments  of  life  which  shall  bring  the  interpretation. 
The  very  word  '* patience"  means  suffering,  for 
in  all  wishing  and  waiting  and  exploring  there  is 
an  element  of  suffering.  What  a  trying  time 
is  that  which  the  affectionate  watcher  by  the  sick 
bed  has  during  paroxysms  of  pain  in  the  sufferer, 
when  no  relief  can  be  •  afforded !  If  only  the 
watchful  eye  could  see  something  to  be  done  it 
would  be  an  immeilse  relief.  But  to  stand  by  and 
let  pain  do  its  work,  this  is  the  trial,  this  the 
labor.  It  is  a  question  in  such  a  case  who  suffers 
most,  the  subject  of  bodily  or  of  mental  pain. 

Distributed  throuc^hout  our  life  are  occasions 
which  bring  the  need  of  patience.  The  soul, 
needs,  for  its  perfectness,  patience  as  much  as  it 
needs  anything.  And  yet,  let  us  not  mistake ; 
let  us  remind  ourselves  once  more  that  patience 
is  not  indifference.  Not  to  care  whether  life  2:oes 
this  way  or  that,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad  in 
quality,  whether  it  be  spiritual  or  sensual,  whether 
it  end  in  a  blissful  immortality  or  in  annihilation, 
to  be  perfectly  indifferent  to  all  this,  that  is  not 


272  WEARINESS  IN  WELL-DOING. 

patience.  It  is  poverty  of  mind  and  heart,  want 
of  vitality.  To  be  able  to  feel  even  to  the  point 
of  agony,  and  yet  not  to  lose  hope  or  heart,  to 
believe  on  still  that  throus^h  all  these  sufTerintrs  a 
God,  too  good  to  let  us  live  like  brutes  and  die  like 
brutes,  is  working  out  something  which  in  the 
glory  of  its  end  shall  justify  the  severity  of  the 
means  —  to  hold  that  attitude  of  soul  against  all 
temptations  to  abandon  it  —  this  is  patience. 

And  so  in  regard  to  well-doing,  I  admit  without 
any  debate  the  impossibility  of  continued  well- 
doing as  a  mere  matter  of  policy.  Apart  from  the 
idea  of  immortality  —  apart  from  the  idea  of  the 
rewardableness  of  all  well-doing, —  persistency 
in  any  course  which  costs  self-denial  and  sacrifice 
seems  to  me  out  of  the  question.  How  is  it,  then, 
that  cases  are  to  be  met  with  of  persons  who  con- 
tinue in  well-doing  and  yet  profess  to  have  no 
convictions  of  i mmor tall ity  for  man?  We  must 
always  make  a  distinction  between  that  which  God 
has  put  into  human  nature,  its  intuitions,  and  that 
which  man  acquires  intellectually.  Take,  as  an 
illustration  of  what  I  mean,  the  most  famous  liter- 
ary woman  of  this  century  —  her  intellect,  trained 
under  the  influence  of  a  school  of  philosophical 
sceptics,  became  infidel ;  in  the  intuitional  region 
of  her  nature,  so  far  was  she  from  being  a  sceptic 
that  she  was  obliged  to  let  herself  out  in  an  ode 
on  immortality.     Every  best   character   she   has 


WEABINESS  IN  WELL-DOING.  273 

drawn  is  Christian  in  spirit,  self-oblivious,  self- 
sacrificing.  All  her  good  sentiments  had  their 
roots  in  that  intuitional  region  which  is  before  and 
above  the  intellectual.  And  so,  it  is  not  surprising 
if  sometimes  w^e  meet  with  men  and  women  whose 
persistent  w^ell-doing  is  not  accounted  for  by  their 
opinions.  They  have  intuitions  as  well  as  opin- 
ions. Their  intuitions  are  not  created  by  learning 
or  reasoning  —  their  opinions  are.  A  man's 
opinions  belong  to  the  school  to  which  he  belongs. 
The  basis  intuitions  of  his  nature  belong  to  no 
school.  It  is  because  of  this  that  I  believe  that 
when,  as  is  reported,  Emerson  said  to  a  man  who 
started  an  argument  with  him —  "  I  never  argue" 
he  acted  wisely.  When  you  begin  to  argue  with 
a  man  you  put  him  on  the  defensive.  You 
summon  him  to  do  his  best  to  justify  himself.  It 
is  a  simple  intellectual  contest.  Argument  has  its 
place  and  its  use,  but  *'  convince  a  man  against 
his  will,  he's  of  the  same  opinion  still."  Many 
and  many  a  sceptic  is  simply  the  slave  of  his  own 
opinions,  he  bends  the  knee  servilely  to  his  own 
intellectual  greatness.  It  is  strange  that  men  are 
more  anxious  to  appear  intellectually  strong  than 
morally  strong,  or  spiritually  percipient.  But  so 
it  is.  And  therefore  I  would  advise  those  of  you 
who  are  younger  in  years  than  the  rest  of  us,  not 
to  be  discouraged  when  you  find  that  you  do  so 
very  little  by  the  arguments  which  to  you  are 


274  WEARINESS  IN  WELL-DOING. 

sufficient  if  not  conclusive.  Don't  argue.  State 
that  which  appears  to  you  to  be  the  truth  and 
leave  it.  If  you  need  a  very  respectable  example 
to  justify  you,  Emerson  in  New  England  is 
respectable  enough,  especially  with  those  who  are 
oppressed  with  the  weight  of  their  own  culture, 
or  continuall}^  living  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  con- 
sciousness of  being  endowed  with  great  intellectual 
ability.  Religion  is  the  development  into  sov- 
ereignty of  the  intuitions  of  our  nature.  To  kill 
them  out  is  impossible.  To  the  end  of  life  they 
will  either  trouble  us  or  comfort  us.  When  scep- 
tical men  continue  in  well-doing  they  but  ol)ey 
their  intuitions  instead  of  their  opinions.  That  is 
the  explanation  of  the  phenomenon. 

Our  narrow  views  of  life  account  for  much  of 
our  weariness  in  well-doing.  Practically,  we  plan 
for  this  life  and  this  only.  Our  sentiments  may 
embrace  the  beyond,  our  opinions,  actions,  plans, 
purposes  are  too  much  controlled  by  the  example 
set  us  by  the  men  whose  creed  is  ' '  let  us  eat  and 
drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  And  so  we  sow 
only  that  which  we  can  reap  now  —  or  that  which 
the  children  in  our  households  can  reap  here  on 
earth.     Not  entirely  of  course,  but  too  much. 

I  do  not  deny  that  it  is  hard,  very  hard,  to  con- 
tinue well-doing  in  the  presence  of  those  mean  hos- 
tilities which  assail  every  well-doer.  In  well-doing 
we  have  to  encounter  the  want  of  appreciation  of 


WEARINESS  m  WELL-DOING.  275 

those  who  have  no  ability  of  appreciating  anything 
which  has  not  its  origin  in  themselves  ;  we  have  to 
meet  all  kinds  of  criticism;  we  have  to  be  sus- 
pected as  to  the  parity  of  oar  motives  ;  and  not 
seldom  we  have  to  experience  the  ingratitude  of 
those  we  try  to  help  ;  and  much  else.  But,  is  it  not 
enough  for  the  servant  that  he  be  as  his  Master  ? 
These  experiences  are  not  new ;  they  do  not 
belong  to  this  generation  alone.  Our  Lord's  sin- 
less life  was  one  which  provoked  every  form  of 
hostility  that  the  enemy  could  bring  against  it. 
The  troubles  of  the  great  Jewish  lawgiver  began 
when  ''  it  came  into  his  heart  to  visit  his  brethren." 
David  lived  quietly  until  God  called  him  into 
service.  Paul  was  not  assailed,  but  lived  in  great 
credit  until  the  Lord  summoned  him  to  the 
preachership  of  the  gospel. 

That  we  are  made  for  doing  is  evidenced  by  the 
ingenious  inventions  by  which  men  and  women  kill 
time,  as  if  the  moment  we  are  indolent  we  are 
unhappy  ;  that  we  are  made  for  well-doing  is  abun- 
dantly manifest  by  the  almost  countless  routes 
along  which  we  may  move  towards  some  end  that  is 
in  some  way  beneficent.  One  cannot  contemplate  a 
life  like  that  of  the  English  nobleman  whose 
departure  from  this  earth  has  been  so  recently 
recorded  —  the  late  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  —  without 
a  sigh  at  the  thought  that  among  that  privileged 
class  there  was  only  one  such  man  —  a  man  distin- 


276  WEARINESS  IN  WELLDOING. 

guished  by  birth,  but  specially  distinguished  by 
his  consecration  of  himself  to  every  kind  of  benev- 
olence by  which  he  could  help  others.  He  did 
not  simply  give  money  but  his  time  —  the  days 
and  nights  as  they  came,  visiting  the  homes  of  the 
poorest  and  most  abject. 

When  a  great  orderly  crowd  of  the  very  poor- 
est and  raggedest  people  in  all  London  assem- 
bled outside  of  Westminster  Abbey  as  the  funeral 
services  were  held,  a  man  of  note,  regarding  the 
character  of  the  throng,  remarked,  ''  There  is  not 
another  man  in  England  could  gather  that  crowd." 
So  that  human  nature,  even  at  its  worst,  is  not  all 
ingratitude.  There  are  so  many  ways  to  do  good, 
—  and  with  its  usual  largeness.  Scripture  leaves 
us  free  to  choose  our  own. 

But  there  is  the  temptation  to  forget  that  the 
path  of  active  well-doing  is  the  path  of  allegiance 
to  the  Master  —  of  benediction  and  of  growth  — 
that  here  w^e  are  sowing  seed  whose  fifty-fold 
produce  we  may  never  see,  but  it  shall  ripen  else- 
where. **  The  due  season"  may  never  come  on 
earth.  But,  in  due  season,  we  shall  reap  that 
which  we  sow.  That  is  a  just  and  benevolent  law 
a  law  that  none  can  escape.  I  might  appeal  on  the 
ground  of  self-interest  —  only  in  well-doing  can 
we  develop  our  own  natures  into  the  fulness  of 
their  powers.  To  enkindle  the  mind  —  to  enlarge 
the  heart  —  to  awake  the  imagination,  these  will 


WEARINESS  IN  WELL-DOING.  277 

be  spiritual  results  to  ourselves,  worth  while  surely. 
Even  here  on  earth,  says  Lord  Jeffrey,  ''  he  will 
always  see  the  most  beauty  in  things  whose 
affections  are  warmest  and  most  exercised,  whose 
imagination  is  the  most  powerful,  and  who  has 
most  accustomed  himself  to  attend  to  the  objects 
by  which  he  is  surrounded."  How  are  we  to  get 
that  competence  to  feel  the  invisible  in  the  visible 
which  a  Wordsworth  possessed  so  royally,  which 
makes  Euskin  the  high-priest  of  the  beautiful  to 
the  age  in  which  he  lives  ?  Only  by  well-doing, 
not  spasmodically  and  occasionally,  but  of  set 
intent  and  purpose.  We  may,  like  the  caterpillar, 
spin  a  very  beautiful  cocoon  and  call  it  our  home, 
but  even  the  caterpillar  will  teach  us,  if  we  will 
listen,  that  if  he  were  to  remain  satisfied  in  that 
silken  ball  which  he  has  woven,  it  would  become 
not  his  home,  but  his  tomb.  Forcing  a  way 
through  it,  and  not  resting  in  it,  he  finds  sunshine 
and  air  and  life  more  abundantly.  Man  says  — 
here  will  I  rest.  I  will  make  my  home  in  these 
pleasant  surroundings.  I  will  shut  out  the  sob  of 
sorrow,  the  wail  of  the  woe-worn,  the  sigh  of  the 
suffering,  the  baying  and  babblement  of  the  crowd  ; 
here,  spending  my  sympathies  on  myself,  I  will 
enjoy  all  that  is  enjoyable.  Ah !  that  silken 
cocoon  !  —  fastened  in  it  you  are  dead  while  you 
live.  No  :  says  God,  that  is  not  what  I  mean  for 
you.     And  He  calls  to  His  aid  His  angels,  clothes 


278  WEABINESS  IN  WELL-DOING. 

them  in  funeral  robes,  and  they  call  themselves 
Pain,  Disease,  Death;  and  they  stir  up  the  intel- 
lect, stir  up  the  heart,  stir  up  the  imagination, 
compel  men  to  think  and  to  feel  about  Eternity, 
and  then,  when  it  is  all  over,  these  disguised  angels 
throw  aside  the  masks  they  have  w^orn  and  strip 
off  the  sable  garb  and  lo,  underneath  is  the  pure 
white  of  Immortality.  We  are  sowers  of  seed 
here.  Let  us  not  forget  that  he  that  soweth  to  the 
flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption,  but  he  that 
soweth  to  the  spirit  shall  of  the  spirit  reap  life 
everlasting.  And,  **  let  us  not  be  weary  in  well- 
doing, for  in  due  season  we  shall  reap  if  we 
faint  not." 


XX. 

THE  DIVINE  INVISIBILITY. 


"Verily,  thou  art  a  God  that  hidest  thyself." — Isaiah,  xlv :   15. 

WHEN  John  the  Evangelist  wrote  **No 
man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time  ;  the 
only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  he  hath  declared  him,  (or  brought  him  to 
view),"  he  put  two  great  truths  into  one  sentence, 
the  truth  of  the  Divine  invisibility,  and  the  truth 
that  man  needed  to  know  something  definite  about 
Deity.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  account  for 
human  life  apart  from  a  life-giver.  The  mind  is 
so  made  that  it  demands  God.  How  true  it  is 
then  that  in  every  nature  there  is  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  a  Creator  —  a  Divine  Personality! 
The  mind  is  so  made  that  it  also  demands  that  to 
all  worthy  action  there  shall  be  a  reward,  and  so  in 
every  mind  there  is  the  truth  that  God  is  a 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him.  Men 
have  tried,  with  a  perseverance  worthy  of  a  better 
cause,  to  shake  themselves  free  from  these  ideas, 
but  in  vain.     Never  can  we  be  rid  of  them  till  this 

279 


280  THE  DIVINE  INVISIBILITY. 

nature  of  ours  is  dissolved  into  nothingness.  Some 
ideas  crush  us  —  such  as  those  of  the  Infinity  and 
Eternity  of  the  Divine  Nature.  We  can  do  noth- 
ing with  thorn.  They  are  represented  to  the  mind 
only  by  vague  expanses  without  any  measurement. 
The  wonder  is  that  we  can  approach  them  at 
all.  It  indicates  that  our  nature  is  allied  to  the 
Divine  nature.  The  thought  of  the  Divine  invisi- 
bility  is  not  so  oppressive  as  these  other  ideas, 
and  yet  it  is  perplexing.  There  are  moods  in 
Tvhich  it  is  not  a  welcome  thought.  It  comes  to 
us  with  no  comfort  and  no  help.  I  suppose  that 
we  all  have  times  in  which  the  greater  an  idea  is 
the  more  unwelcome  it  is.  We  make  desperate 
efforts  to  put  large  thoughts  away  from  us,  and 
confine  ourselves  to  that  which  is  measurable 
and  familiar.  Yea,  have  we  not  often  resolved  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  that  which  is  unfamiliar, 
strange,  vast,  indefinite,  awful  ?  Why  cannot  we 
live  our  life  in  perpetual  disregard  of  everything 
but  the  common-place  ?  I  suppose  that  the  reason 
is  that  in  this  nature  of  ours  there  are  possibilities 
which  will  not  be  smothered,  intuitions  which 
struirirle  to  ffet  their  heads  out  of  the  ocean  of 
doubt  in  which  we  try  to  drown  them.  We  have 
in  us  from  babyhood  an  irrepressible  desire  to 
know  the  unknown.  Tell  a  child  that  there  is  a 
cupboard  into  which  he  must  not  look,  and  he  will 
think  more  of  that  cupboard  than  of  all  the  rest  of 


THE  DIVINE  INYISIBILITT.  281 

the  house.  Let  there  be  an  apple  tree  in  an 
orchard  whose  fruit  is  forbidden,  only  one  tree  in 
five  hundred,  and  that  tree  becomes  immediately 
invested  with  a  fascination  which  is  almost  painful. 
There  is  almost  a  certainty  that  the  fruit  of  that 
tree  will  ere  long  be  plucked  and  tasted.  Not 
that  which  we  know  but  that  which  to  us  is  un- 
known, that  which  is  mysterious,  only  partially 
revealed,  interests  us.  It  appeals  to  our  imagina- 
tion. We  are  discontented  till  we  know  something 
of  it.  The  unknown  is  the  awful.  And  so  in 
heathen  religions  there  is  always  some  mysterious 
place  into  which  only  a  high  priest  enters,  some 
inner  sanctuary  veiled  from  mortal  eyes  where  the 
Divine  presence  is  more  perceptible  than  else- 
where. Even  Judaism  had  it  and  its  veil  of  the 
temple  was  not  rent  in  twain  till  Christ  came. 
Sacerdotal  churches  maintain  the  idea  till  this  day. 

Idolatry  —  what  is  it  ?  What  but  the  effort  to 
make  the  invisible  visible  ?  There  is  something 
pitiful  about  it.  Though  its  tendency  is  ever 
towards  materialistic  grossness,  yet  is  there 
something  pathetic  in  it,  something  more  calcu- 
lated to  bring  the  tear  than  the  frown. 

When  Jesus  the  Christ  came  into  this  world's 
life,  He  came  to  answer  the  longing  of  the  human 
heart  after  some  such  expression  of  Deity  as  should 
satisfy  that  desire  to  make  the  invisible  visible. 
Idolatry  is  the  cry  of  man  to  God  to  show  himself. 


282  THE  Bl  VINE  INVISIBILITY. 

It  is  the  effort  of  the  mind  of  man  to  give  definite- 
ness  to  the  idea  of  Deity.  In  the  fulness  of  time 
Jesus  the  Christ  comes,  and  one  of  His  disciples 
expresses  the  longing  of  the  whole  human  race 
when  he  cries,  *'  Lord,  show  us  the  Father,  and  it 
sufficeth  us."  And  when  our  Lord  replies  *'  He 
that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father  "  He  but 
tells  us  that  Almighty  God  has  revealed  all  that  is 
revealable  of  his  personality  in  Himself.  If  only 
we  knew  the  heart  of  God  we  could  be  satisfied, — 
anyway,  we  could  have  a  sort  of  restful  content, 
and  could  do  our  work  in  the  world  more  hope- 
fully and  cheerfully ;  we  could  worship  with 
more  intelligence  —  we  could  work  with  more 
confidence. 

I  think  that  in  our  noblest  moments  it  must 
seem  to  us  that  the  demand  for  a  full  and  perfect 
revelation  of  Deity  is  unreasonable,  not  to  use  the 
stronger  word,  absurd.  Reasonable  enough  is  the 
demand,  let  us  know  the  heart  of  Deity,  the 
Divine  disposition,  how  God  feels  towards  us. 
Here  we  are  on  an  earth  that  in  itself  is  altogether 
appalling,  because  of  the  material  forces  which 
display  themselves.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a 
Providence  which  buffets  us,  disappoints  us, 
thwarts  and  troubles  us ;  a  Providence  which 
seems  at  variance  with  itself.  Reconcile  one  thing 
with  another  we  cannot.  Generally  speaking, 
most  of  us  seem  more  to  be  pitied  than  envied. 


THE  DIVINE  INVISIBILITY.  283 

"We  never  know  whether  we  can  carry  out  what 
we  begin.  Affliction  may  come  and  lay  us  low, 
death  may  come  and  put  the  hand  of  total  arrest 
upon  us.  We  walk  by  faith  because  we  cannot 
do  ought  else.  Now,  if  only  we  could  know  that 
the  Infinite  Being  who  sustains  and  controls  all 
this  perplexing  and  involved  condition  were  as 
good  as  He  is  great,  as  loving  as  the  best  of 
Fathers  to  his  children,  so  that  if  we  were 
suddenly  arrested  in  our  life  here,  it  would  be  a 
surprise  but  not  a  calamity, —  would  it  not  make 
worlds  of  difference  to  us  ?  We  all  feel  that  it 
would.  And  it  seems  to  be  reasonable  that  at  the 
right  time  in  the  development  of  this  human  race 
of  ours,  that  demand  should  be  met.  It  seems 
to  me  that  it  has  been  met,  fully  and  fairly  met,  in 
the  gift  of  Jesus  the  Christ  to  this  world.  And  if 
only  we  could  clear  our  minds  of  the  prejudices 
which  have  been  created  there  by  theological  and 
denominational  controversies,  and  look  at  this 
Jesus  Christ  honestly  and  candidly,  it  seems  to  me 
altogether  impossible  not  to  feel  that  in  Him,  in 
what  He  was  and  in  what  Pie  did,  is  the  gospel  for 
humanity,  that  which  every  human  heart  needs. 

And  so,  while  it  is  still  true  that  the  Eternal 
One  is  a  God  that  hideth  Himself,  it  is  also  true 
that  the  prayer  of  man's  heart  *'  Lord,  show  us  the 
Father  and  it  sufficcth  us,"  has  been  answered. 

But  can  we  not  see  that  the  Divine  invisibility  has 


284  THE  DIVINE  nV  VISIBILITY. 

its  uses  in  the  development  of  this  nature  of  ours  ? 
One  use  is  to  train  us  to  Eeverence.  If  everything 
should  become  so  common-place  to  us  that  we  could 
treat  it  with  vulgar  familiarity,  our  life  would  lose 
its  power  of  self-improvement  and  development.  A 
thoroughly  refined  and  cultured  mind  will  always 
see  far  enough  to  be  abashed  in  the  presence  of 
that  which  is  high  and  holy.  But  the  vast  major- 
ity of  minds  are  not  refined  and  cultured.  Nor 
can  they  be.  Think  long  enough  to  take  in  the 
dreadfulncss  of  the  scene  —  of  that  coarse,  vulgar, 
hideous  mockery  which  Jesus  the  Christ  experi- 
enced in  those  days  which  anticipated  the 
Crucifixion.  Think  of  men  striking  Him,  jeering 
at  Ilim,  even  spitting  in  His  face,  making  Him  a 
sham  King  and  I  know  not  what  else  of  coarse, 
vulo^ar,  shameful  conduct.  Recoo^nizinoc  what  He 
was  —  think  of  it  all !  Here  are  men  with  no 
ability  left  to  recognize  the  divine  superiority  of 
that  unequalled  personality.  Brutalized  Eoman 
soldiers  had  felt  themselves  powerless  to  put  a 
finger  on  Him  because  of  the  unearthliness  of  His 
speech,  **  Never  man  spake  like  this  man." 
Lepers  had  felt  new  life  pulse  in  them  as  His 
shadow  fell  athwart  their  path.  Fallen  women 
had  realized  a  reviving  purity  as  He  spake  to  them. 
Devils  had  trembled  in  His  presence.  In  this 
personality  there  was  a  mysterious  charm,  a  new 
kind  of  power,  yet  men  can  sink  so  low,  become 


THE  DIVINE  INVISIBILITY.  285 

SO  vulgar,  so  coarse,  as  to  be  hideously  familiar 
with  such  a  Presence,  and  treat  it  with  contempt. 
Now,  there  is  nothing  which  so  bespeaks  meanness 
of  character  as  the  ability  to  treat  things  high  and 
holy  with  contempt.  To  be  capable  of  respect, 
of  esteem,  of  affection,  is  to  be  capable  of  that  wor- 
shipfulness  which  belongs  to  God  —  the  witholding 
of  which  amounts  to  treating  Deity  with  contempt. 
If  we  could  see  our  natures  as  they  are,  w^ith  all 
the  possibilities  of  aspiration  and  degradation  that 
slumber  in  them,  we  should  have  no  Ibort  of  doubt 
that  every  man  needs  something  to  worship  more 
than  something  to  eat.  The  ability  of  feeling  the 
splendor,  the  glory,  the  beauty  of  things,  and 
especially  the  ability  to  feel  the  splendor,  glory, 
and  beauty  in  the  highest  types  of  human  life,  this 
ability  indicates  a  condition  of  soul  in  which  there 
is  nearness  to  God.  <'  It  is  of  all  things  the  most 
melancholy  (writes  a  man  entitled  to  be  called 
great)  to  watch  the  moral  clouding  over  of  life's 
early  dawn  ;  to  trace  the  dim  veil  stealing  o'er  the 
artless  look  ;  to  notice  how  the  earnest  tone  begins 
to  leave  the  voice,  and  every  worthy  enthusiasm 
dies  away  into  indifference ;  how  it  comes  to  be 
thought  a  fine  thing  to  speak  coolly  of  what  is 
odious  for  its  vice,  and  critically  of  what  is  awful 
for  its  beauty.  Where  this  spoiling  takes  place, 
I  believe  it  is  because  we  mingle  no  reverence 
with  our  affection,  and  accept  without  awe  the 


286  THE  DIVINE  INVISIBILITY, 

solemn  trust  of  a  child's  conscience."  God  hides 
Himself  that  we  may  not  become  coarsely  familiar 
with  that  which  is  Divine  and  thus  add  to  our  sin 
instead  of  adding  to  our  Keverence.  Further,  God's 
hiding  of  Himself  is  necessary  to  our  freedom. 

Our  Great  Teacher  puts  this  thought,  as  is  His 
wont,  into  the  parable  of  an  Eastern  lord  going 
into  a  far  country  and  delivering  his  goods  into 
the  custody  of  his  servants,  that,  in  his  absence, 
they  may  so  use  them  as  to  increase  them.  In 
order  to  the  development  of  every  human  life,  a 
certain  amount  of  freedom  is  necessary.  The 
over-awing  sensible  presence  of  God  would  com- 
pletely destroy  our  freedom.  It  would  paralyze 
our  activities.  It  is  necessary  that  men  should  be 
from  under  any  fettering  constraint  if  the  faculties 
they  possess  are  to  move  easily  and  with  spon- 
taneity towards  the  end  for  which  they  were  given. 
Our  God  is  no  slaveholder,  standing  over  us  with 
uplifted  arm  ready  to  bring  down  the  lash  on  our 
palpitating  flesh.  So  much  freedom  has  He  given 
us  that  it  seems  to  be  excessive ;  oftentimes  w  hen 
crime  seems  to  be  here,  there,  and  everywhere 
even  appalling.  Not  that  man  is  left  entirely  to 
himself.  Everywhere  he  meets  law,  and  law 
means  a  law-giver.  Physically,  mentally,  morally 
he  is  compelled  to  recognize  law,  in  a  word,  God 
as  a  God  of  order  and  not  of  confusion.  But 
God  as  law,  limiting  liberty,  and  God  as  Love, 


THE  DIVINE  INVISIBILITY.  287 

inspiring  hope,  and  kindling  aspiration,  are  two 
different  stages  in  the  revelation  of  Deity.  We 
are  all  of  us  anxious  to  recognize  that  God  is  Love, 
and  to  rest  in  it.  But  our  ideas  of  love  and  its 
nature  may  be  very  weak,  infantile  and  ignorant. 
Love  is  not  something  that  sets  law  aside.  It  is 
not  a  disposition  which  indulges  a  child  with  all 
it  asks.  '*  Because  I  love  you  so,  I  let  you  do  as 
you  like  "  —  is  that  the  inference  proper  to  love  ? 
While  the  Almighty  One  has  given  us  that  freedom 
without  which  our  natures  cannot  develop  into 
strength  and  beauty, —  without  which  there  is  no 
possibility  of  that  variety  in  which  the  idea  of 
personality  comes  out,  yet  it  always  seems  to  me 
that  our  freedom  is  a  cord  w^hich  allows  us  to  go 
so  far  and  no  farther.  The  most  self-willed  and 
reckless  of  men  eventually  find  that  there  is  a 
limit  to  their  ability  of  recklessness.  Until  we 
can  see  the  w^hole  area  through  which  the  life  of 
the  spirit  of  man  moves,  I  do  not  believe  it  possi- 
ble for  us  to  justify  the  appalling  amount  of 
freedom  which  God  has  allowed  to  His  creatures. 
Still,  we  can  see  some  of  its  uses  and  its  necessity. 
We  can  see  that  it  gives  room  for  each  individual 
man  to  show  himself.  He  can  choose  this  or  that. 
By  the  results  of  his  choice  he  learns  something. 
He  recognizes  his  mistakes,  he  feels  his  error,  he 
builds  up  his  life.  He  gains  experiences  which 
may  be  of  incalculable  use  to  him  in  the  hereafter. 


288  THE  DIVINE  IN  VISIBILITY. 

All  this  suggests  itself.  But  is  it  not  easy  to  see 
that  if  the  flaming  eye  of  Deity  were  visible  upon 
us  all  the  while  we  should  be  paralyzed  into 
inaction  ?  Our  rightful  freedom  makes  the  demand 
upon  God  that  He  hide  Himself  from  our  vision. 
Moreover  it  is  necessary  to  our  jperfectness  of 
nature.  There  must  be  a  limit  to  the  growth 
of  this  nature  of  ours,  a  point  attainable  at  which, 
in  every  moment  of  our  existence,  we  shall  feel 
lilve  praising  God  for  our  creation.  There  must 
be  for  man  a  state  of  life  which  is  itself  bliss  — 
harmony  —  music,  in  which  the  internal  and  exter- 
nal are  in  accord.  J^ow  we  live  by  effort,  by 
endurance,  by  overcoming  difficulties,  by  braving 
dangers,  by  surmounting  obstacles,  by  resisting 
evils.  It  is  a  kind  of  chronic  warfare  with  men 
and  things. 

But  in  us  are  ideas  of  something  entirely  differ- 
ent and  immearsurably  superior.  Those  ideas  are 
endorsed  by  Jesus  the  Christ.  But  perfectness  in 
man  is  not  simply  a  matter  of  outward  condition, 
it  implies  internal  correspondence  with  an  enviro- 
ment  in  itself  perfect.  In  order  to  perfectness  of 
inward  condition  there  must  be  the  ability  of  faith 
in  a  Power  outside  ourselves,  and  of  faith  in  all 
around  us,  the  ability  of  perpetual  hope,  the  ability 
of  undying  love.  It  is  not  possible  for  us  to 
conceive  of  a  state  in  which  these  three  elements 
of  life  will  not  be  needed.     And  it  is  not  possible^ 


THE  DIVINE  INVISIBILITY,  289 

SO  far  as  we  can  see,  to  develop  these  virtues 
unless  we  have  room  for  their  growth.  The 
invisibility  of  God  is  necessary  to  their  growth. 
Sight  is  very  much  inferior  to  trust.  The  most 
perfect  communion  of  soul  with  soul,  the  most  ex- 
quisite fellowship  of  mind  with  mind,  are  possible 
only  where  undoubted  trust  and  undying  love  are 
possible,  nowhere  else.  Now,  if  our  God  were  to 
show  Himself  as  over  us,  watching  us,  noting  us 
all  the  time,  every  day  and  every  hour,  so  that  the 
eye  saw  Him,  would  we  not  feel  as  the  slave  feels 
when  the  Master  is  there  whip  in  hand  ?  If  the 
Almighty  One  were  simply  an  Almighty  Task- 
master, or  an  Almighty  Detective,  what  pos- 
sible room  would  there  be  for  the  growth  of 
these  three  royal  virtues,  faith,  hope  and  love? 
But  now  He  hides  Plimself,  conceals  His  presence 
and  His  workings,  so  that  we  have  to  bring  faith 
into  exercise.  And  nothing  so  ennobles  and 
purifies  a  spirit  as  the  exercise  of  faith  in  some- 
body. The  opposite  of  faith  is  fear  and  suspicion. 
Train  a  child  under  the  influence  of  these  and  see 
what  the  result  will  be.  Nothing  good,  a  blight 
will  be  on  that  child's  soul  for  life.  There  are 
some  men  who  need  watching  all  the  time.  If 
you  employ  them  and  are  to  get  any  work  out  of 
them  you  must  keep  an  eye  on  them.  Of  what 
order  are  these  men  ?  The  very  lowest  to  be  found 
anywhere.     Nothing  noble  in  them. 


290  THE  1)1  VINE  INVISIBILITY. 

And  yet,  though  God  hides  Himself  and  refuses 
to  be  the  Supreme  Detective  of  the  Universe,  lie 
fills  Heaven  and  Earth.  He  is  never  absent.  We 
cannot  get  away  from  Him.  We  cannot  escape 
Him.  He  hides  Himself,  in  the  presentative 
totality  of  His  Being,  but  Pie  does  not  hide  all 
His  thoughts.  Every  material  thing  is  a  thought 
of  God  presented  to  us  for  our  recognition.  It 
used  to  be  assumed  that  man  would  become  un- 
spiritual  if  he  admired  Nature,  the  heavens,  the 
earth,  the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills,  the  birds, 
the  flowers.  No  man,  with  a  Bible  in  his  hand 
ought  to  have  felt  so.  How  full  of  poetry  is  the 
Bible  !  It  sings  its  highest  revelations.  And  the 
more  spiritual  in  mind  we  become,  the  more  cer- 
tainly shall  we  find  **  sermons  in  stones,  books  in 
the  running  brooks,  and  God  in  everything."  Na- 
ture is  a  library  of  Divine  thoughts  to  the  spiritu- 
alized mind,  to  no  other  mind, —  thoughts 
presented  in  forms  of  beauty,  put  there  for  us  to 
find  them.  You  know  how  children  like  to 
discover  things,  and  so  we  are  put  upon  discover- 
ing Divine  thoughts.  They  are  spoken  to  us  in 
parables.  These  are  everywhere,  and  what  we 
call  our  discoveries  are  simply  the  wider  open- 
ing of  our  eyes  to  see  what  w^as  there  all  the 
time.  "All  our  boasted  discoveries  are  only  of 
things  that  for  thousands  of  years  have  stared  us 
in  the  face  and  we  could  not  recognize  them.     We 


THE  DIVINE  INYISIBILITT.  291 

must  marvel  rather  at  the  tardiness  than  the  swift- 
ness of  our  appreliension  and  confess  ourselves 
but  fools  and  slow  of  heart  to  perceive  what  the 
finger  of  God  has  plainly  writ." 

But  not  His  thoughts  only  has  God  spread  out 
before  us.  He  has  made  us  feel  His  feeling.  He 
has  put  fatherhood  and  motherhood  into  men  and 
women.  He  has  put  sisterhood  and  brotherhood 
also.  He  has  made  souls  capable  of  friendship. 
He  has  put  pity,  compassion,  sympathy,  love  into 
human  hearts.  And  though  these  are  necessarily 
adulterated,  yet  there  is  much  of  the  genuine  arti- 
cle to  be  found.  All  these  have  to  be  accounted 
for.  They  are  not  in  the  dust  out  of  which  our 
bodies  are  made.  It  is  next  to  impossible  to 
believe  that  any  man  is  serious  when  he  talks 
as  if  pity  and  sympathy,  compassion  and  love 
and  all  these  elements  of  moral  beauty  are  the 
result  of  <'a  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms." 

For  myself,  I  don't  care  whether  the  physical 
nature  of  man  was,  by  what  we  know  as  the 
method  of  evolution,  developed  from  the  lower 
and  the  lowest,  or  whether,  by  some  more  sum- 
mary process,  it  was  created.  It  is  the  result  not 
the  process  with  which  we  are  concerned.  It  is 
interesting  to  know  how  the  rocks  were  stratified, 
how  the  hills  were  cast  up,  how  the  valleys  were 
ploughed.  But  the  result  rather  than  the  process 
concerns  me.     I  can  plant  potatoes  on  the  hills ; 


292  THE  DIVINE  INVISIBILITY. 

I  can  graze  cattle  in  the  valleys.  I  can  train  my 
mind  to  a  feeling  of  the  beautiful  by  the  undula- 
ting variety  all  around.  And  so  this  organism  of 
ours  may  have  come  up  from  those  otiier  creatux^es 
with  four  pillars  to  support  their  frame,  instead  of 
two.  The  vertical  man  may  once  have  been  physi- 
cally the  horizontal  animal.  It  makes  no  differ- 
ence as  to  the  process.  Now  he  is  man  —  capable 
of  love,  of  pity,  of  sympathy,  of  compassion,  and 
these  are  not  animal.  They  are  the  Divine  feel- 
ings reproducing  themselves  in  the  creatures 
prepared  to  incarnate  them.  And  though  God 
hides  His  Infinite  Personality,  draws  around  Him- 
self a  veil  which  none  can  rend  —  we  know  some 
of  His  thoughts,  and  some  of  His  feelings.  His 
whisper  is  in  our  souls.  We  name  it  conscience. 
He  never  leaves  us,  nor  forsakes  us.  And,  with 
the  Hebrew  poet  we  can  ask,  ''Whither  shall  I  go 
from  Thy  spirit  —  whither  shall  I  flee  from  Thy 
presence?  If  I  ascend  up  into  Heaven,  thou  art 
there ;  if  I  make  my  bed  in  Sheol,  behold  thou 
art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning 
and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea ;  even 
there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me  and  thy  right  hand 
shall  hold  me." 

And  with  Paul,  ''In  Him  we  live  and  move  and 
have  our  being."  And  when  we  come  to  Jesus 
the  Christ,  the  veil  of  concealment  is  so  thin  that 
we  can  see  through  it.     Are  we  too  rash  when  we 


THE  DIVINE  INVISIBILITY.  293 

say  —  Deity  reduced  from  His  Infinity,  coming 
within  limitations  such  as  we  need  on  this  earth 
would  be  Perfect  Humanity  ?  Wonderful  language 
is  that  ''  know  ye  not  that  ye  are  temples  of  the 
Holy  Spirit."  Man  regenerated  is  the  true  tem- 
ple, and  at  the  inmost  of  every  regenerated  human 
soul  is  a  ray  from  the  Central  Sun  of  the  Uni- 
verse—  God  Himself.  Thus  God  is  hidden,  yet 
manifest.  And  so,  though  God  hides  Himself 
from  us,  we  cannot  hide  ourselves  from  Him. 
"  Can  any  hide  himself  in  secret  places  that  I 
should  not  see  him,  saith  the  Lord ;  do  not  I  fill 
Heaven  and  Earth,  saith  the  Lord?"  Here,  even 
here,  is  the  ground  of  our  hope  and  expectation. 
The  touch  of  God  is  everywhere  —  beyond  it 
we  cannot  go. 


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